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1 It was the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month of our captivity. I was by the Kebar River among the people who had been carried away as captives. The sky opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 It was the fifth day of the month of the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been a prisoner.

3 The Lord spoke his word to Ezekiel son of Buzi in the land of the Babylonians by the Kebar River. There he felt the power of the Lord.

4 When I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming from the north. There was a great cloud with a bright light around it and fire flashing out of it. Something that looked like glowing metal was in the center of the fire.

5 Inside the cloud was what looked like four living creatures, who were shaped like humans,

6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight. Their feet were like a calf's hoofs and sparkled like polished bronze.

8 The living creatures had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings,

9 and their wings touched each other. The living creatures did not turn when they moved, but each went straight ahead.

10 Their faces looked like this: Each living creature had a human face and the face of a lion on the right side and the face of an ox on the left side. And each one also had the face of an eagle.

11 That was what their faces looked like. Their wings were spread out above. Each had two wings that touched one of the other living creatures and two wings that covered its body.

12 Each went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, the living creatures would also go, without turning.

13 The living creatures looked like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire went back and forth among the living creatures. It was bright, and lightning flashed from it.

14 The living creatures ran back and forth like bolts of lightning.

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground by each of the living creatures with its four faces.

16 The wheels and the way they were made were like this: They looked like sparkling chrysolite. All four of them looked the same, like one wheel crossways inside another wheel.

17 When they moved, they went in any one of the four directions, without turning as they went.

18 The rims of the wheels were high and frightening and were full of eyes all around.

19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the living creatures were lifted up from the ground, the wheels also were lifted up.

20 Wherever the spirit would go, the living creatures would go. And the wheels were lifted up beside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved. When the living creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. And when the living creatures were lifted from the ground, the wheels were lifted beside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22 Now, over the heads of the living creatures was something like a dome that sparkled like ice and was frightening.

23 And under the dome the wings of the living creatures were stretched out straight toward one another. Each living creature also had two wings covering its body.

24 I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring sound of the sea, as they moved. It was like the voice of God Almighty, a roaring sound like a noisy army. When the living creatures stopped, they lowered their wings.

25 A voice came from above the dome over the heads of the living creatures. When the living creatures stopped, they lowered their wings.

26 Now above the dome there was something that looked like a throne. It looked like a sapphire gem. And on the throne was a shape like a human.

27 Then I noticed that from the waist up the shape looked like glowing metal with fire inside. From the waist down it looked like fire, and a bright light was all around.

28 The surrounding glow looked like the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. It seemed to look like the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I bowed facedown on the ground and heard a voice speaking.

1 He said to me, "Human, stand up on your feet so I may speak with you."

2 While he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. Then I heard the Lord speaking to me.

3 He said, "Human, I am sending you to the people of Israel. That nation has turned against me and broken away from me. They and their ancestors have sinned against me until this very day.

4 I am sending you to people who are stubborn and who do not obey. You will say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says.'

5 They may listen, or they may not, since they are a people who have turned against me. But they will know that a prophet has been among them.

6 You, human, don't be afraid of the people or their words. Even though they may be like thorny branches and stickers all around you, and though you may feel like you live with poisonous insects, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of their words or their looks, because they are a people who turn against me.

7 But speak my words to them. They may listen, or they may not, because they turn against me.

8 But you, human, listen to what I say to you. Don't turn against me as those people do. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you."

9 Then I looked and saw a hand stretched out to me, and a scroll was in it.

10 He opened the scroll in front of me. Funeral songs, sad writings, and words about troubles were written on the front and back.

1 Then the Lord said to me, "Human, eat what you ind; eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the people of Israel."

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 He said to me, "Human, eat this scroll which I am giving you, and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 Then he said to me, "Human, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them.

5 You are not being sent to people whose speech you can't understand, whose language is difficult. You are being sent to Israel.

6 You are not being sent to many nations whose speech you can't understand, whose language is difficult, whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

7 But the people of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me. Yes, all the people of Israel are stubborn and will not obey.

8 See, I now make you as stubborn and as hard as they are.

9 I am making you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don't be afraid of them or be frightened by them, though they are a people who turn against me."

10 Also, he said to me, "Human, believe all the words I will speak to you, and listen carefully to them.

11 Then go to the captives, your own people, and say to them, 'The Lord God says this.' Tell them this whether they listen or not."

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me, saying, "Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven."

13 I heard the wings of the living creatures touching each other and the sound of the wheels by them. It was a loud rumbling sound.

14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I was unhappy and angry, and I felt the great power of the Lord.

15 I came to the captives from Judah, who lived by the Kebar River at Tel Abib. I sat there seven days where these people lived, feeling shocked.

16 After seven days the Lord spoke his word to me again. He said,

17 "Human, I now make you a watchman for Israel. Any time you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me.

18 When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' you must warn them so they may live. If you don't speak out to warn the wicked to stop their evil ways, they will die in their sin. But I will hold you responsible for their death.

19 If you warn the wicked and they do not turn from their wickedness or their evil ways, they will die because of their sin. But you will have saved your life.

20 "Again, those who do right may turn away from doing good and do evil. If I make something bad happen to them, they will die. Because you have not warned them, they will die because of their sin, and the good they did will not be remembered. But I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

21 But if you have warned those good people not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live, because they believed the warning. And you will have saved your life."

22 Then I felt the power of the Lord there. He said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain. There I will speak to you."

23 So I got up and went out to the plain. I saw the glory of the Lord standing there, like the glory I saw by the Kebar River, and I bowed facedown on the ground.

24 Then the Spirit entered me and made me stand on my feet. He spoke to me and said, "Go, shut yourself up in your house.

25 As for you, human, the people will tie you up with ropes so that you will not be able to go out among them.

26 Also, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so you will be silent. You will not be able to argue with the people, even though they turn against me.

27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, 'The Lord God says this.' Those who will listen, let them listen. Those who refuse, let them refuse, because they are a people who turn against me.

1 "Now, human, get yourself a brick, put it in front of you, and draw a map of Jerusalem on it.

2 Then surround it with an army. Build battle works against the city and a dirt road to the top of the city walls. Set up camps around it, and put heavy logs in place to break down the walls.

3 Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up like an iron wall between you and the city. Turn your face toward the city as if to attack it and then attack. This is a sign to Israel.

4 "Then lie down on your left side, and take the guilt of Israel on yourself. Their guilt will be on you for the number of days you lie on your left side.

5 I have given you the same number of days as the years of the people's sin. So you will have the guilt of Israel's sin on you for three hundred ninety days.

6 "After you have finished these three hundred ninety days, lie down a second time, on your right side. You will then have the guilt of Judah on you. I will give it to you for forty days, a day for each year of their sin.

7 Then you will look toward Jerusalem, which is being attacked. With your arm bare, you will prophesy against Jerusalem.

8 I will put ropes on you so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your attack on Jerusalem.

9 "Take wheat, barley, beans, small peas, and millet seeds, and put them in one bowl, and make them into bread for yourself. You will eat it the three hundred ninety days you lie on your side.

10 You will eat eight ounces of food every day at set times.

11 You will drink about two-thirds of a quart of water every day at set times.

12 Eat your food as you would eat a barley cake, baking it over human dung where the people can see."

13 Then the Lord said, "In the same way Israel will eat unclean food among the nations where I force them to go."

14 But I said, "No, Lord God! I have never been made unclean. From the time I was young until now I've never eaten anything that died by itself or was torn by animals. Unclean meat has never entered my mouth."

15 "Very well," he said. "Then I will give you cow's dung instead of human dung to use for your fire to bake your bread."

16 He also said to me, "Human, I am going to cut off the supply of bread to Jerusalem. They will eat the bread that is measured out to them, and they will worry as they eat. They will drink water that is measured out to them, and they will be in shock as they drink it.

17 This is because bread and water will be hard to find. The people will be shocked at the sight of each other, and they will become weak because of their sin.

1 "Now, human, take a sharp sword, and use it like a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales and weigh and divide the hair.

2 Burn one-third with fire in the middle of the city when the days of the attack on Jerusalem are over. Then take one-third and cut it up with the knife all around the city. And scatter one-third to the wind. This is how I will chase them with a sword.

3 Also take a few of these hairs and tie them in the folds of your clothes.

4 Take a few more and throw them into the fire and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the people of Israel.

5 "This is what the Lord God says: This is Jerusalem. I have put her at the center of the nations with countries all around her.

6 But she has refused to obey my laws and has been more evil than the nations. She has refused to obey my rules, even more than nations around her. The people of Jerusalem have rejected my laws and have not lived by my rules.

7 "So this is what the Lord God says: You have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have not followed my rules or obeyed my laws. You have not even obeyed the laws of the nations around you.

8 "So this is what the Lord God says: I myself am against you, and I will punish you as the nations watch.

9 I will do things among you that I have not done before and that I will never do anything like again, because you do the things I hate.

10 So parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and will scatter to the winds all who are left alive.

11 So the Lord God says: You have made my Temple unclean with all your evil idols and the hateful things you do. Because of this, as surely as I live, I will cut you off. I will have no pity, and I will show no mercy.

12 A third of you will die by disease or be destroyed by hunger inside your walls. A third will fall dead by the sword outside your walls. And a third I will scatter in every direction as I chase them with a sword.

13 Then my anger will come to an end. I will use it up against them, and then I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken. After I have carried out my anger against them, they will know how strongly I felt.

14 "I will make you a ruin and a shame among the nations around you, to be seen by all who pass by.

15 Then the nations around you will shame you and make fun of you. You will be a warning and a terror to them. This will happen when I punish you in my great anger. I, the Lord, have spoken.

16 I will send a time of hunger to destroy you, and then I will make your hunger get even worse, and I will cut off your supply of food.

17 I will send a time of hunger and wild animals against you, and they will kill your children. Disease and death will sweep through your people, and I will bring the sword against you to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

1 Again the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, look toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.

3 Say, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. The Lord God says this to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your places of idol worship.

4 Your altars will be destroyed and your incense altars broken down. Your people will be killed in front of your idols.

5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

6 In all the places you live, cities will become empty. The places of idol worship will be ruined; your altars will become lonely ruins. Your idols will be broken and brought to an end. Your incense altars will be cut down, and the things you made will be wiped out.

7 Your people will be killed and fall among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

8 "'But I will leave some people alive; some will not be killed by the nations when you are scattered among the foreign lands.

9 Then those who have escaped will remember me, as they live among the nations where they have been taken as captives. They will remember how I was hurt because they were unfaithful to me and turned away from me and desired to worship their idols. They will hate themselves because of the evil things they did that I hate.

10 Then they will know that I am the Lord. I did not bring this terrible thing on them for no reason.

11 "'This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and groan because of all the hateful, evil things the people of Israel have done. They will die by war, hunger, and disease.

12 The person who is far away will die by disease. The one who is nearby will die in war. The person who is still alive and has escaped these will die from hunger. So I will carry out my anger on them.

13 Their people will lie dead among their idols around the altars, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every green tree and leafy oak -- all the places where they offered sweet-smelling incense to their idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

14 I will use my power against them to make the land empty and wasted from the desert to Diblah, wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.'"

1 Again the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, the Lord God says this to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come on the four corners of the land.

3 Now the end has come for you, and I will send my anger against you. I will judge you for the way you have lived, and I will make you pay for all your actions that I hate.

4 I will have no pity on you; I will not hold back punishment from you. Instead, I will make you pay for the way you have lived and for your actions that I hate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

5 "This is what the Lord God says: Disaster on top of disaster is coming.

6 The end has come! The end has come! It has stirred itself up against you! Look! It has come!

7 Disaster has come for you who live in the land! The time has come; the day of confusion is near. There will be no happy shouting on the mountains.

8 Soon I will pour out my anger against you; I will carry out my anger against you. I will judge you for the way you have lived and will make you pay for everything you have done that I hate.

9 I will show no pity, and I will not hold back punishment. I will pay you back for the way you have lived and the things you have done that I hate. Then you will know that I am the Lord who punishes.

10 "Look, the day is here. It has come. Disaster has come, violence has grown, and there is more pride than ever.

11 Violence has grown into a weapon for punishing wickedness. None of the people will be left -- none of that crowd, none of their wealth, and nothing of value.

12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Don't let the buyer be happy or the seller be sad, because my burning anger is against the whole crowd.

13 Sellers will not return to the land they have sold as long as they live, because the vision against all that crowd will not be changed. Because of their sins, they will not save their lives.

14 They have blown the trumpet, and everything is ready. But no one is going to the battle, because my anger is against all that crowd.

15 "The sword is outside, and disease and hunger are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. Hunger and disease will destroy those in the city.

16 Those who are left alive and who escape will be on the mountains, moaning like doves of the valleys about their own sin.

17 All hands will hang weakly with fear, and all knees will become weak as water.

18 They will put on rough cloth to show how sad they are. They will tremble all over with fear. Their faces will show their shame, and all their heads will be shaved.

19 The people will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like trash. Their silver and gold will not save them from the Lord's anger. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, because it caused them to fall into sin.

20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their idols and their evil statues, which I hate. So I will turn their wealth into trash.

21 I will give it to foreigners as loot from war and to the most evil people in the world as treasure, and they will dishonor it.

22 I will also turn away from the people of Israel, and they will dishonor my treasured place. Then robbers will enter and dishonor it.

23 "Make chains for captives, because the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence.

24 So I will bring the worst of the nations to take over the people's houses. I will also end the pride of the strong, and their holy places will be dishonored.

25 When the people are suffering greatly, they will look for peace, but there will be none.

26 Disaster will come on top of disaster, and rumor will be added to rumor. Then they will try to get a vision from a prophet; the teachings of God from the priest and the advice from the older leaders will be lost.

27 The king will cry greatly, the prince will give up hope, and the hands of the people who own land will shake with fear. I will punish them for the way they have lived. The way they have judged others is the way I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 It was the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month of our captivity. I was sitting in my house with the older leaders of Judah in front of me. There I felt the power of the Lord God.

2 I looked and saw something that looked like a human. From the waist down it looked like fire, and from the waist up it looked like bright glowing metal.

3 It stretched out the shape of a hand and caught me by the hair on my head. The Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the sky. He took me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple. In the courtyard was the idol that caused God to be jealous.

4 I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, as I had seen on the plain.

5 Then he said to me, "Human, now look toward the north." So I looked up toward the north, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar was the idol that caused God to be jealous.

6 He said to me, "Human, do you see what they are doing? Do you see how many hateful things the people of Israel are doing here that drive me far away from my Temple? But you will see things more hateful than these."

7 Then he brought me to the entry of the courtyard. When I looked, I saw a hole in the wall.

8 He said to me, "Human, dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall and saw an entrance.

9 Then he said to me, "Go in and see the hateful, evil things they are doing here."

10 So I entered and looked, and I saw every kind of crawling thing and hateful beast and all the idols of the people of Israel, carved on the wall all around.

11 Standing in front of these carvings and idols were seventy of the older leaders of Israel and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each man had his pan for burning incense in his hand, and a sweet-smelling cloud of incense was rising.

12 Then he said to me, "Human, have you seen what the older leaders of Israel are doing in the dark? Have you seen each man in the room of his own idol? They say, 'The Lord doesn't see us. The Lord has left the land.'"

13 He also said to me, "You will see even more hateful things that they are doing."

14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Temple of the Lord, where I saw women sitting and crying for Tammuz.

15 He said to me, "Do you see, human? You will see things even more hateful than these."

16 Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Temple. There I saw about twenty-five men at the entrance to the Temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar. With their backs turned to the Temple of the Lord, they faced east and were worshiping the sun in the east.

17 He said to me, "Do you see, human? Is it unimportant that the people of Judah are doing the hateful things they have done here? They have filled the land with violence and made me continually angry. Look, they are insulting me every way they can.

18 So I will act in anger. I will have no pity, nor will I show mercy. Even if they shout in my ears, I won't listen to them."

1 Then he shouted with a loud voice in my ears, "You who are chosen to punish this city, come near with your weapon in your hand."

2 Then six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his powerful weapon in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing case at his side. The men went in and stood by the bronze altar.

3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the creatures with wings, where it had been, to the place in the Temple where the door opened. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing case at his side.

4 He said to the man, "Go through Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and cry about all the hateful things being done among them."

5 As I listened, he said to the other men, "Go through the city behind the man dressed in linen and kill. Don't pity anyone, and don't show mercy.

6 Kill and destroy old men, young men and women, little children, and older women, but don't touch any who have the mark on them. Start at my Temple." So they started with the older leaders who were in front of the Temple.

7 Then he said to the men, "Make the Temple unclean, and fill the courtyards with those who have been killed. Go out!" So the men went out and killed the people in the city.

8 While the men were killing the people, I was left alone. I bowed facedown on the ground and I cried out, "Oh, Lord God! Will you destroy everyone left alive in Israel when you turn loose your anger on Jerusalem?"

9 Then he said to me, "The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is very great. The land is filled with people who murder, and the city is full of people who are not fair. The people say, 'The Lord has left the land, and the Lord does not see.'

10 But I will have no pity, nor will I show mercy. I will bring their evil back on their heads."

11 Then the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his side reported, "I have done just as you commanded me."

1 Then I looked and saw in the dome above the heads of the living creatures something like a sapphire gem which looked like a throne.

2 The Lord said to the man dressed in linen, "Go in between the wheels under the living creatures, fill your hands with coals of fire from between the living creatures, and scatter the coals over the city." As I watched, the man with linen clothes went in.

3 Now the living creatures were standing on the south side of the Temple when the man went in. And a cloud filled the inner courtyard.

4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the living creatures and stood over the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was full of the brightness from the glory of the Lord.

5 The sound of the wings of the living creatures was heard all the way to the outer courtyard. It was like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

6 When the Lord commanded the man dressed in linen, "Take fire from between the wheels, from between the living creatures," the man went in and stood by a wheel.

7 One living creature put out his hand to the fire that was among them, took some of the fire, and put it in the hands of the man dressed in linen. Then the man took the fire and went out.

8 Something that looked like a human hand could be seen under the wings of the living creatures.

9 I saw the four wheels by the living creatures, one wheel by each living creature. The wheels looked like shining chrysolite.

10 All four wheels looked alike: Each looked like a wheel crossways inside another wheel.

11 When the wheels moved, they went in any of the directions that the four living creatures faced. The wheels did not turn about, and the living creatures did not turn their bodies as they went.

12 All their bodies, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all over. Each of the four living creatures had a wheel.

13 I heard the wheels being called "whirling wheels."

14 Each living creature had four faces. The first face was the face of a creature with wings. The second face was a human face, the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

15 Then the living creatures flew up. They were the same living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River.

16 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the living creatures lifted their wings to fly up from the ground, the wheels did not leave their place beside them.

17 When the living creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. When the creatures went up, the wheels went up also, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

18 Then the glory of the Lord left the door of the Temple and stood over the living creatures.

19 As I watched, the living creatures spread their wings and flew up from the ground, with the wheels beside them. They stood where the east gate of the Temple of the Lord opened, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

20 These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel by the Kebar River. I knew they were called cherubim.

21 Each one had four faces and four wings, and under their wings were things that looked like human hands.

22 Their faces looked the same as the ones I had seen by the Kebar River. They each went straight ahead.

1 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the front gate of the Temple of the Lord, which faces east. I saw twenty-five men where the gate opens, among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people.

2 Then the Lord said to me, "Human, these are the men who plan evil and give wicked advice in this city of Jerusalem.

3 They say, 'It is almost time for us to build houses. This city is like a cooking pot, and we are like the best meat.'

4 So prophesy against them, prophesy, human."

5 Then the Spirit of the Lord entered me and told me to say: "This is what the Lord says: You have said these things, people of Israel, and I know what you are thinking.

6 You have killed many people in this city, filling its streets with their bodies.

7 "So this is what the Lord God says: Those people you have killed and left in the middle of the city are like the best meat, and this city is like the cooking pot. But I will force you out of the city.

8 You have feared the sword, but I will bring a sword against you, says the Lord God.

9 I will force you out of the city and hand you over to strangers and punish you.

10 You will die by the sword. I will punish you at the border of Israel so you will know that I am the Lord.

11 This city will not be your cooking pot, and you will not be the best meat in the middle of it. I will punish you at the border of Israel.

12 Then you will know that I am the Lord. You did not live by my rules or obey my laws. Instead, you did the same things as the nations around you."

13 As I prophesied, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I bowed facedown on the ground and shouted with a loud voice, "Oh no, Lord God! Will you completely destroy the Israelites who are left alive?"

14 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying,

15 "Human, the people still in Jerusalem have spoken about your own relatives and all the people of Israel who are captives with you, saying, 'They are far from the Lord. This land has been given to us as our property.'

16 "So say, 'This is what the Lord God says: I sent the people far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries. But for a little while I have become a Temple to them in the countries where they have gone.'

17 "So say: 'This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you together from the countries where you have been scattered. Then I will give you back the land of Israel.'

18 "When they come to this land, they will remove all the evil idols and all the hateful images.

19 I will give them a desire to respect me completely, and I will put inside them a new way of thinking. I will take out the stubborn heart of stone from their bodies, and I will give them an obedient heart of flesh.

20 Then they will live by my rules and obey my laws and keep them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

21 But those who want to serve their evil statues and hateful idols, I will pay back for their evil ways, says the Lord God."

22 Then the living creatures lifted their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

23 The glory of the Lord went up from inside Jerusalem and stopped on the mountain on the east side of the city.

24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the captives who had been taken from Judah to Babylonia. This happened in a vision given by the Spirit of God, and then the vision I had seen ended.

25 And I told the captives from Judah all the things the Lord had shown me.

1 Again the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, you are living among a people who refuse to obey. They have eyes to see, but they do not see, and they have ears to hear, but they do not hear, because they are a people who refuse to obey.

3 "So, human, pack your things as if you will be taken away captive, and walk away like a captive in the daytime with the people watching. Move from your place to another with the people watching. Maybe they will understand, even though they are a people who refuse to obey.

4 During the day when the people are watching, bring out the things you would pack as captive. At evening, with the people watching, leave your place like those who are taken away as captives from their country.

5 Dig a hole through the wall while they watch, and bring your things out through it.

6 Lift them onto your shoulders with the people watching, and carry them out in the dark. Cover your face so you cannot see the ground, because I have made you a sign to the people of Israel."

7 I did these things as I was commanded. In the daytime I brought what I had packed as if I were being taken away captive. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I brought my things out in the dark and carried them on my shoulders as the people watched.

8 Then in the morning the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

9 "Human, didn't Israel, who refuses to obey, ask you, 'What are you doing?'

10 "Say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: This message is about the king in Jerusalem and all the people of Israel who live there.'

11 Say, 'I am a sign to you.' "The same things I have done will be done to the people in Jerusalem. They will be taken away from their country as captives.

12 The king among them will put his things on his shoulder in the dark and will leave. The people will dig a hole through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he cannot see the ground.

13 But I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my trap. Then I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Babylonians. He will not see that land, but he will die there.

14 All who are around the king -- his helpers and all his army -- I will scatter in every direction, and I will chase them with a sword.

15 "They will know that I am the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries.

16 But I will save a few of them from the sword and from hunger and disease. Then they can tell about their hateful actions among the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

17 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

18 "Human, tremble as you eat your food, and shake with fear as you drink your water.

19 Then say to the people of the land: 'This is what the Lord God says about the people who live in Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their food with fear and drink their water in shock, because their land will be stripped bare because of the violence of the people who live in it.

20 The cities where people live will become ruins, and the land will become empty. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

21 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

22 "Human, what is this saying you have in the land of Israel: 'The days go by and every vision comes to nothing'?

23 So say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: I will make them stop saying this, and nobody in Israel will use this saying anymore.' But tell them, 'The time is near when every vision will come true.

24 There will be no more false visions or pleasing prophecies inside the nation of Israel,

25 but I, the Lord, will speak. What I say will be done, and it will not be delayed. You refuse to obey, but in your time I will say the word and do it, says the Lord God.'"

26 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

27 "Human, the people of Israel are saying, 'The vision that Ezekiel sees is for a time many years from now. He is prophesying about times far away.'

28 "So say to them: 'The Lord God says this: None of my words will be delayed anymore. What I have said will be done, says the Lord God.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, prophesy against the prophets of Israel. Say to those who make up their own prophecies: 'Listen to the word of the Lord.

3 This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the foolish prophets who follow their own ideas and have not seen a vision from me!

4 People of Israel, your prophets have been like wild dogs hunting to kill and eat among ruins.

5 Israel is like a house in ruins, but you have not gone up into the broken places or repaired the wall. So how can Israel hold back the enemy in the battle on the Lord's day of judging?

6 Your prophets see false visions and prophesy lies. They say, "This is the message of the Lord," when the Lord has not sent them. But they still hope their words will come true.

7 You said, "This is the message of the Lord," but that is a false vision. Your prophecies are lies, because I have not spoken.

8 "'So this is what the Lord God says: Because you prophets spoke things that are false and saw visions that do not come true, I am against you, says the Lord God.

9 I will punish the prophets who see false visions and prophesy lies. They will have no place among my people. Their names will not be written on the list of the people of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

10 "'It is because they lead my people the wrong way by saying, "Peace!" when there is no peace. When the people build a weak wall, the prophets cover it with whitewash to make it look strong.

11 So tell those who cover a weak wall with whitewash that it will fall down. Rain will pour down, hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break the wall down.

12 When the wall has fallen, people will ask you, "Where is the whitewash you used on the wall?"

13 "'So this is what the Lord God says: I will break the wall with a stormy wind. In my anger rain will pour down, and hailstones will destroy the wall.

14 I will tear down the wall on which you put whitewash. I will level it to the ground so that people will see the wall's foundation. And when the wall falls, you will be destroyed under it. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

15 So I will carry out my anger on the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. Then I will tell you, "The wall is gone, and those who covered it with whitewash are gone.

16 The prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and who see visions of peace for the city, when there is no peace, will be gone, says the Lord God."'

17 "Now, human, look toward the women among your people who make up their own prophecies. Prophesy against them.

18 Say, 'This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils of every length to trap people! You ruin the lives of my people but try to save your own lives.

19 For handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, you have dishonored me among my people. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed people who should not die, and you have kept alive those who should not live.

20 "'So this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic charms, by which you trap people as if they were birds. I will tear those charms off your arms, and I will free those people you have trapped like birds.

21 I will also tear off your veils and save my people from your hands. They will no longer be trapped by your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

22 By your lies you have caused those who did right to be sad, when I did not make them sad. And you have encouraged the wicked not to stop being wicked, which would have saved their lives.

23 So you will not see false visions or prophesy anymore, and I will save my people from your power so you will know that I am the Lord.'"

1 Some of the older leaders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

2 Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

3 "Human, these men want to worship idols. They put up evil things that cause people to sin. Should I allow them to ask me for help?

4 So speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Lord God says: When any of the people of Israel want to worship idols and put up evil things that cause people to sin and then come to the prophet, I, the Lord, will answer them myself for worshiping idols.

5 Then I will win back my people Israel, who have left me because of all their idols.'

6 "So say to the people of Israel, 'This is what the Lord God says: Change your hearts and lives, and stop worshiping idols. Stop doing all the things I hate.

7 Any of the Israelites or foreigners in Israel can separate themselves from me by wanting to worship idols or by putting up the things that cause people to sin. Then if they come to the prophet to ask me questions, I, the Lord, will answer them myself.

8 I will reject them. I will make them a sign and an example, and I will separate them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

9 "'But if the prophet is tricked into giving a prophecy, it is because I, the Lord, have tricked that prophet to speak. Then I will use my power against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

10 The prophet will be as guilty as the one who asks him for help; both will be responsible for their guilt.

11 Then the nation of Israel will not leave me anymore or make themselves unclean anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.'"

12 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

13 "Human, if the people of a country sin against me by not being loyal, I will use my power against them. I will cut off their supply of food and send a time of hunger, destroying both people and animals.

14 Even if three great men like Noah, Daniel, and Job were in that country, their goodness could save only themselves, says the Lord God.

15 "Or I might send wild animals into that land, leaving the land empty and without children. Then no one would pass through it because of the animals.

16 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves, but that country would become empty.

17 "Or I might bring a war against that country. I might say, 'Let a war be fought in that land,' in this way destroying its people and its animals.

18 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, even if those three men were in the land, they could not save their sons or daughters. They could save only themselves.

19 "Or I might cause a disease to spread in that country. I might pour out my anger against it, destroying and killing people and animals.

20 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they could not save their son or daughter. They could save only themselves because they did what was right.

21 "This is what the Lord God says: My plans for Jerusalem are much worse! I will send my four terrible punishments against it -- war, hunger, wild animals, and disease -- to destroy its people and animals.

22 But some people will escape; some sons and daughters will be led out. They will come out to you, and you will see what happens to people who live as they did. Then you will be comforted after the disasters I have brought against Jerusalem, after all the things I have brought against it.

23 You will be comforted when you see what happens to them for living as they did, because you will know there was a good reason for what I did to Jerusalem, says the Lord God."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, is the wood of the vine better than the wood of any tree in the forest?

3 Can wood be taken from the vine to make anything? Can you use it to make a peg on which to hang something?

4 If the vine is thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire burns up both ends and starts to burn the middle, is it useful for anything?

5 When the vine was whole, it couldn't be made into anything. When the fire has burned it completely, it certainly cannot be made into anything."

6 So this is what the Lord God says: "Out of all the trees in the forest, I have given the wood of the vine as fuel for fire. In the same way I have given up the people who live in Jerusalem

7 and will turn against them. Although they came through one fire, fire will still destroy them. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord.

8 So I will make the land empty, because the people have not been loyal, says the Lord God."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, tell Jerusalem about her hateful actions.

3 Say, 'This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: Your beginnings and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.

4 On the day you were born, your cordn was not cut. You were not washed with water to clean you. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

5 No one felt sorry enough for you to do any of these things for you. No, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were hated on the day you were born.

6 "'When I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, I said to you, "Live!"

7 I made you grow like a plant in the field. You grew up and became tall and became like a beautiful jewel. Your breasts formed, and your hair grew, but you were naked and without clothes.

8 "'Later when I passed by you and looked at you, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I spread my robe over you and covered your nakedness. I also made a promise to you and entered into an agreement with you so that you became mine, says the Lord God.

9 "'Then I bathed you with water, washed all the blood off of you, and put oil on you.

10 I put beautiful clothes made with needlework on you and put sandals of fine leather on your feet. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

11 I put jewelry on you: bracelets on your arms, a necklace around your neck,

12 a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

13 So you wore gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen, silk, and beautiful needlework. You ate fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You were very beautiful and became a queen.

14 Then you became famous among the nations, because you were so beautiful. Your beauty was perfect, because of the glory I gave you, says the Lord God.

15 "'But you trusted in your beauty. You became a prostitute, because you were so famous. You had sexual relations with anyone who passed by.

16 You took some of your clothes and made your places of worship colorful. There you carried on your prostitution. These things should not happen; they should never occur.

17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made from my gold and silver I had given you, and you made for yourselves male idols so you could be a prostitute with them.

18 Then you took your clothes with beautiful needlework and covered the idols. You gave my oil and incense as an offering to them.

19 Also, you took the bread I gave you, the fine flour, oil, and honey I gave you to eat, and you offered them before the gods as a pleasing smell. This is what happened, says the Lord God.

20 "'But your sexual sins were not enough for you. You also took your sons and daughters who were my children, and you sacrificed them to the idols as food.

21 You killed my children and offered them up in fire to the idols.

22 While you did all your hateful acts and sexual sins, you did not remember when you were young, when you were naked and had no clothes and were left in your blood.

23 "'How terrible! How terrible it will be for you, says the Lord God. After you did all these evil things,

24 you built yourself a place to worship gods. You made for yourself a place of worship in every city square.

25 You built a place of worship at the beginning of every street. You made your beauty hateful, offering your body for sex to anyone who passed by, so your sexual sins became worse and worse.

26 You also had sexual relations with the Egyptians, who were your neighbors and partners in sexual sin. Your sexual sins became even worse, and they caused me to be angry.

27 So then, I used my power against you and took away some of your land. I let you be defeated by those who hate you, the Philistine women, who were ashamed of your evil ways.

28 Also, you had sexual relations with the Assyrians, because you could not be satisfied. Even though you had sexual relations with them, you still were not satisfied.

29 You did many more sexual sins in Babylonia, the land of traders, but even this did not satisfy you.

30 "'Truly your will is weak, says the Lord God. You do all the things a stubborn prostitute does.

31 You built your place to worship gods at the beginning of every street, and you made places of worship in every city square. But you were not like a prostitute when you refused to accept payment.

32 "'You are a wife who is guilty of adultery. You desire strangers instead of your husband.

33 Men pay prostitutes, but you pay all your lovers to come to you. And they come from all around for sexual relations.

34 So you are different from other prostitutes. No man asks you to be a prostitute, and you pay money instead of having money paid to you. Yes, you are different.

35 "'So, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord.

36 This is what the Lord God says: You showed your nakedness to other countries. You uncovered your body in your sexual sins with them as your lovers and with all your hateful idols. You killed your children and offered their blood to your idols.

37 So I will gather all your lovers with whom you found pleasure. Yes, I will gather all those you loved and those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can see your nakedness.

38 I will punish you as women guilty of adultery or as murderers are punished. I will put you to death because I am angry and jealous.

39 I will also hand you over to your lovers. They will tear down your places of worship and destroy other places where you worship gods. They will tear off your clothes and take away your jewelry, leaving you naked and bare.

40 They will bring a crowd against you to throw stones at you and to cut you into pieces with their swords.

41 They will burn down your houses and will punish you in front of many women. I will put an end to your sexual sins, and you will no longer pay your lovers.

42 Then I will rest from my anger against you, and I will stop being jealous. I will be quiet and not angry anymore.

43 "'Because you didn't remember when you were young, but have made me angry in all these ways, I will repay you for what you have done, says the Lord God. Didn't you add sexual sins to all your other acts which I hate?

44 "'Everyone who uses wise sayings will say this about you: "The daughter is like her mother."

45 You are like your mother, who hated her husband and children. You are also like your sisters, who hated their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.

46 Your older sister is Samaria, who lived north of you with her daughters; your younger sister is Sodom, who lived south of you with her daughters.

47 You not only followed their ways and did the hateful things they did, but you were soon worse than they were in all your ways.

48 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, this is true. Your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

49 "'This was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud and had plenty of food and lived in great comfort, but she did not help the poor and needy.

50 So Sodom and her daughters were proud and did things I hate in front of me. So I got rid of them when I saw what they did.

51 Also, Samaria did not do half the sins you do; you have done more hateful things than they did. So you make your sisters look good because of all the hateful things you have done.

52 You will suffer disgrace, because you have provided an excuse for your sisters. They are better than you are. Your sins were even more terrible than theirs. Feel ashamed and suffer disgrace, because you made your sisters look good.

53 "'But I will give back to Sodom and her daughters the good things they once had. I will give back to Samaria and her daughters the good things they once had. And with them I will also give back the good things you once had

54 so you may suffer disgrace and feel ashamed for all the things you have done. You even gave comfort to your sisters in their sins.

55 Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before. You and your daughters will also return to what you were before.

56 You humiliated your sister Sodom when you were proud,

57 before your evil was uncovered. And now the Edomite women and their neighbors humiliate you. Even the Philistine women humiliate you. Those around you hate you.

58 This is your punishment for your terrible sins and for actions that I hate, says the Lord.

59 "'This is what the Lord God says: I will do to you what you have done. You hated and broke the agreement you promised to keep.

60 But I will remember my agreement I made with you when you were young, and I will make an agreement that will continue forever with you.

61 Then you will remember what you have done and feel ashamed when you receive your sisters -- both your older and your younger sisters. I will give them to you like daughters, but not because they share in my agreement with you.

62 I will set up my agreement with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

63 You will remember what you did and feel ashamed. You will not open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you for all the things you have done, says the Lord God.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, give a riddle and tell a story to the people of Israel.

3 Say, 'This is what the Lord God says: A giant eagle with big wings and long feathers of many different colors came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of a cedar tree.

4 He pulled off the top branch and brought it to a land of traders, where he planted it in a city of traders.

5 "'The eagle took some seed from the land and planted it in a good field near plenty of water. He planted it to grow like a willow tree.

6 It sprouted and became a low vine that spread over the ground. The branches turned toward the eagle, but the roots were under the eagle. So the seed became a vine, and its branches grew, sending out leaves.

7 "'But there was another giant eagle with big wings and many feathers. The vine then bent its roots toward this eagle. It sent out its branches from the area where it was planted toward the eagle so he could water it.

8 It had been planted in a good field by plenty of water so it could grow branches and give fruit. It could have become a fine vine.'

9 "Say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: The vine will not continue to grow. The first eagle will pull up the vine's roots and strip off its fruit. Then the vine and all its new leaves will dry up and die. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull the vine up by its roots.

10 Even if it is planted again, it will not continue to grow. It will completely dry up and die when the east wind hits it in the area where it grew.'"

11 Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

12 "Say now to the people who refuse to obey: 'Do you know what these things mean?' Say: 'The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took the king and important men of Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon.

13 Then he took a member of the family of the king of Judah and made an agreement with him, forcing him to take an oath. The king also took away the leaders of Judah

14 to make the kingdom weak so it would not be strong again. Then the kingdom of Judah could continue only by keeping its agreement with the king of Babylon.

15 But the king of Judah turned against the king of Babylon by sending his messengers to Egypt and asking them for horses and many soldiers. Will the king of Judah succeed? Will the one who does such things escape? He cannot break the agreement and escape.

16 "'As surely as I live, says the Lord God, he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who made him king of Judah. The king of Judah hated his promise to the king of Babylon and broke his agreement with him.

17 The king of Egypt with his mighty army and many people will not help the king of Judah in the war. The Babylonians will build devices to attack the cities and to kill many people.

18 The king of Judah showed that he hated the promise by breaking the agreement. He promised to support Babylon, but he did all these things. So he will not escape.

19 "'So this is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, this is true: I will pay back the king of Judah for hating my promise and breaking my agreement.

20 I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my trap. Then I will bring him to Babylon, where I will punish him for the unfaithful acts he did against me.

21 All the best of his soldiers who escape will die by the sword, and those who live will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

22 "'This is what the Lord God says: I myself will also take a young branch from the top of a cedar tree, and I will plant it. I will cut off a small twig from the top of the tree's young branches, and I will plant it on a very high mountain.

23 I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel. Then it will grow branches and give fruit and become a great cedar tree. Birds of every kind will build nests in it and live in the shelter of the tree's branches.

24 Then all the trees in the countryside will know that I am the Lord. I bring down the high tree and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree grow. I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "What do you mean by using this saying about the land of Israel: 'The parents have eaten sour grapes, and that caused the children to grind their teeth from the sour taste'?

3 "As surely as I live, says the Lord God, this is true: You will not use this saying in Israel anymore.

4 Every living thing belongs to me. The life of the parent is mine, and the life of the child is mine. The person who sins is the one who will die.

5 "Suppose a person is good and does what is fair and right.

6 He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not have sexual relations with his neighbor's wife or with a woman during her time of monthly bleeding.

7 He does not mistreat anyone but returns what was given as a promise for a loan. He does not rob other people. He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none.

8 He does not lend money to get too much interest or profit. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He judges fairly between one person and another.

9 He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. Whoever does these things is good and will surely live, says the Lord God.

10 "But suppose this person has a wild son who murders people and who does any of these other things.

11 (But the father himself has not done any of these things.) This son eats at the mountain places of worship. He has sexual relations with his neighbor's wife.

12 He mistreats the poor and needy. He steals and refuses to return what was promised for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does things which I hate.

13 He lends money for too much interest and profit. Will this son live? No, he will not live! He has done all these hateful things, so he will surely be put to death. He will be responsible for his own death.

14 "Now suppose this son has a son who has seen all his father's sins, but after seeing them does not do those things.

15 He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not have sexual relations with his neighbor's wife.

16 He does not mistreat anyone or keep something promised for a loan or steal. He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none.

17 He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He does not take too much interest or profit when he lends money. He obeys my laws and lives by my rules. He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live.

18 But his father took other people's money unfairly and robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. So he will die for his own sin.

19 "But you ask, 'Why is the son not punished for the father's sin?' The son has done what is fair and right. He obeys all my rules, so he will surely live.

20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A child will not be punished for a parent's sin, and a parent will not be punished for a child's sin. Those who do right will enjoy the results of their own goodness; evil people will suffer the results of their own evil.

21 "But suppose the wicked stop doing all the sins they have done and obey all my rules and do what is fair and right. Then they will surely live; they will not die.

22 Their sins will be forgotten. Because they have done what is right, they will live.

23 I do not really want the wicked to die, says the Lord God. I want them to stop their bad ways and live.

24 "But suppose good people stop doing good and do wrong and do the same hateful things the wicked do. Will they live? All their good acts will be forgotten, because they became unfaithful. They have sinned, so they will die because of their sins.

25 "But you say, 'What the Lord does isn't fair.' Listen, people of Israel. I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair!

26 When good people stop doing good and do wrong, they will die because of it. They will die, because they did wrong.

27 When the wicked stop being wicked and do what is fair and right, they will save their lives.

28 Because they thought about it and stopped doing all the sins they had done, they will surely live; they will not die.

29 But the people of Israel still say, 'What the Lord does isn't fair.' People of Israel, I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair.

30 "So I will judge you, people of Israel; I will judge each of you by what you do, says the Lord God. Change your hearts and stop all your sinning so sin will not bring your ruin.

31 Get rid of all the sins you have done, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new way of thinking. Why do you want to die, people of Israel?

32 I do not want anyone to die, says the Lord God, so change your hearts and lives so you may live.

1 "Sing a funeral song for the leaders of Israel.

2 Say: 'Your mother was like a female lion. She lay down among the young lions. She had many cubs.

3 When she brought up one of her cubs, he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the animals he hunted, and he ate people.

4 The nations heard about him. He was trapped in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

5 "'The mother lion waited and saw that there was no hope for her cub. So she took another one of her cubs and made him a strong lion.

6 This cub roamed among the lions. He was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the animals he hunted, and he ate people.

7 He tore down their strong places and destroyed their cities. The land and everything in it were terrified by the sound of his roar.

8 Then the nations came against him from areas all around, and they spread their net over him. He was trapped in their pit.

9 Then they put him into a cage with chains and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him into prison so his roar could not be heard again on the mountains of Israel.

10 "'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted beside the water. The vine had many branches and gave much fruit, because there was plenty of water.

11 The vine had strong branches, good enough for a king's scepter. The vine became tall among the thick branches. And it was seen, because it was tall with many branches.

12 But it was pulled up by its roots in anger and thrown down to the ground. The east wind dried it up. Its fruit was torn off. Its strong branches were broken off and burned up.

13 Now the vine is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.

14 Fire spread from the vine's main branch, destroying its fruit. There is not a strong branch left on it that could become a scepter for a king.' This is a funeral song; it is to be used as a funeral song."

1 It was the seventh year of our captivity, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month. Some of the older leaders of Israel came to ask about the Lord and sat down in front of me.

2 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

3 "Human, speak to the older leaders of Israel and say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: Did you come to ask me questions? As surely as I live, I will not let you ask me questions.'

4 "Will you judge them? Will you judge them, human? Let them know the hateful things their ancestors did.

5 Say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: When I chose Israel, I made a promise to the descendants of Jacob. I made myself known to them in Egypt, and I promised them, "I am the Lord your God."

6 At that time I promised them I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had found for them, a fertile land, the best land in the world.

7 I said to them, "Each one of you must throw away the hateful idols you have seen and liked. Don't make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

8 "'But they turned against me and refused to listen to me. They did not throw away the hateful idols which they saw and liked; they did not give up the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out my anger against them while they were still in Egypt.

9 But I acted for the sake of my name so it would not be dishonored in full view of the nations where the Israelites lived. I made myself known to the Israelites with a promise to bring them out of Egypt while the nations were watching.

10 So I took them out of Egypt and brought them into the desert.

11 I gave them my rules and told them about my laws, by which people will live if they obey them.

12 I also gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between us so they would know that I am the Lord who made them holy.

13 "'But in the desert Israel turned against me. They did not follow my rules, and they rejected my laws, by which people will live if they obey them. They dishonored my Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out my anger against them and destroy them in the desert.

14 But I acted for the sake of my name so it would not be dishonored in full view of the nations who watched as I had brought the Israelites out of Egypt.

15 And in the desert I swore to the Israelites that I would not bring them into the land I had given them. It is a fertile land, the best land in the world.

16 This was because they rejected my laws and did not follow my rules. They dishonored my Sabbaths and wanted to worship their idols.

17 But I had pity on them. I did not destroy them or put an end to them in the desert.

18 I said to their children in the desert, "Don't live by the rules of your parents, or obey their laws. Don't make yourselves unclean with their idols.

19 I am the Lord your God. Live by my rules, obey my laws, and follow them.

20 Keep my Sabbaths holy, and they will be a sign between me and you. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God."

21 "'But the children turned against me. They did not live by my rules, nor were they careful to obey my laws, by which people will live if they obey them. They dishonored my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out my anger against them in the desert.

22 But I held back my anger. I acted for the sake of my name so it would not be dishonored in full view of the nations who watched as I brought the Israelites out.

23 And in the desert I swore to the Israelites that I would scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries,

24 because they had not obeyed my laws. They had rejected my rules and dishonored my Sabbaths and worshiped the idols of their parents.

25 I also allowed them to follow rules that were not good and laws by which they could not live.

26 I let the Israelites make themselves unclean by the gifts they brought to their gods when they sacrificed their first children in the fire. I wanted to terrify them so they would know that I am the Lord.'

27 "So, human, speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: Your ancestors spoke against me by being unfaithful to me in another way.

28 When I had brought them into the land I promised to give them, they saw every high hill and every leafy tree. There they offered their sacrifices to gods. They brought offerings that made me angry and burned their incense and poured out their drink offerings.

29 Then I said to them: What is this high place where you go to worship?'" (It is still called High Place today.)

30 "So say to the people of Israel: 'This is what the Lord God says: Are you going to make yourselves unclean as your ancestors did? Are you going to be unfaithful and desire their hateful idols?

31 When you offer your children as gifts and sacrifice them in the fire, you are making yourselves unclean with all your idols even today. So, people of Israel, should I let you ask me questions? As surely as I live, says the Lord God, I will not accept questions from you.

32 "'What you want will not come true. You say, "We want to be like the other nations, like the people in other lands. We want to worship idols made of wood and stone."

33 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, I will use my great power and strength and anger to rule over you.

34 I will bring you out from the foreign nations. With my great power and strength and anger I will gather you from the lands where you are scattered.

35 I will bring you among the nations as I brought your ancestors into the desert with Moses. There I will judge you face to face.

36 I will judge you the same way I judged your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, says the Lord God.

37 I will count you like sheep and will bring you into line with my agreement.

38 I will get rid of those who refuse to obey me and who turn against me. I will bring them out of the land where they are now living, but they will never enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

39 "'This is what the Lord God says: People of Israel, go serve your idols for now. But later you will listen to me; you will not continue to dishonor my holy name with your gifts and gods.

40 On my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all Israel will serve me in the land, says the Lord God. There I will accept you. There I will expect your offerings, the first harvest of your offerings, and all your holy gifts.

41 I will accept you like the pleasing smell of sacrifices when I bring you out from the foreign nations and gather you from the lands where you are scattered. Then through you I will show how holy I am so the nations will see.

42 When I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I promised your ancestors, you will know that I am the Lord.

43 There you will remember everything you did that made you unclean, and then you will hate yourselves for all the evil things you have done.

44 I will deal with you for the sake of my name, not because of your evil ways or unclean actions. Then you will know I am the Lord, people of Israel, says the Lord God.'" Babylon, the Lord's Sword

45 Now the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

46 "Human, look toward the south. Prophesy against the south and against the forest of the southern area.

47 Say to that forest: 'Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says: I am ready to start a fire in you that will destroy all your green trees and all your dry trees. The flames that burn will not be put out. Every face from south to north will feel their heat.

48 Then all the people will see that I, the Lord, have started the fire. It will not be put out.'"

49 Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! The people are saying about me, 'He is only telling stories.'"

1 Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, look toward Jerusalem and speak against the holy place. Prophesy against the land of Israel.

3 Say to Israel: 'This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will pull my sword out of its holder, and I will cut off from you both the wicked and those who do right.

4 Because I am going to cut off the wicked and those who do right, my sword will come out from its holder and attack all people from south to north.

5 Then all people will know that I, the Lord, have pulled my sword out from its holder. My sword will not go back in again.'

6 "So, human, groan with breaking heart and great sadness. Groan in front of the people.

7 When they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you will say, 'Because of what I have heard is going to happen. When it happens, every heart will melt with fear, and all hands will become weak. Everyone will be afraid; all knees will become weak as water. Look, it is coming, and it will happen, says the Lord God.'"

8 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

9 "Human, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord says: A sword, a sword, made sharp and polished.

10 It is made sharp for the killing. It is polished to flash like lightning. "'You are not happy about this horrible punishment by the sword. But my son Judah, you did not change when you were only beaten with a rod.

11 The sword should be polished. It is meant to be held in the hand. It is made sharp and polished, ready for the hand of a killer.

12 Shout and yell, human, because the sword is meant for my people, for all the rulers of Israel. They will be killed by the sword, along with my people. So beat your chest in sadness.

13 "'The test will come. And Judah, who is hated by the armies of Babylon, will not last, says the Lord God.'

14 "So, human, prophesy and clap your hands. Let the sword strike two or three times. It is a sword meant for killing, a sword meant for much killing. This sword surrounds the people to be killed.

15 Their hearts will melt with fear, and many people will die. I have placed the killing sword at all their city gates. Oh! The sword is made to flash like lightning. It is held, ready for killing.

16 Sword, cut on the right side; then cut on the left side. Cut anywhere your blade is turned.

17 I will also clap my hands and use up my anger. I, the Lord, have spoken."

18 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

19 "Human, mark two roads that the king of Babylon and his sword can follow. Both of these roads will start from the same country. And make signs where the road divides and one way goes toward the city.

20 Mark one sign to show the road he can take with his sword to Rabbah in the land of the Ammonites. Mark the other sign to show the road to Judah and Jerusalem, which is protected with strong walls.

21 The king of Babylon has come to where the road divides, and he is using magic. He throws lots with arrows and asks questions of his family idols. He looks at the liver of a sacrificed animal to learn where he should go.

22 The lot in his right hand tells him to go to Jerusalem. It tells him to use logs to break down the city gates, to shout the battle cry and give the order to kill, and to build a dirt road to the top of the walls and devices to attack the walls.

23 The people of Jerusalem have made agreements with other nations to help them fight Babylon. So they will think this prediction is wrong, but it is really proof of their sin, and they will be captured.

24 "So this is what the Lord God says: 'You have shown how sinful you are by turning against the Lord. Your sins are seen in all the things you do. Because of this proof against you, you will be taken captive by the enemy.

25 "'You unclean and evil leader of Israel, you will be killed! The time of your final punishment has come.

26 This is what the Lord God says: Take off the royal turban, and remove the crown. Things will change. Those who are important now will be made unimportant, and those who are unimportant now will be made important.

27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! This place will not be rebuilt until the one comes who has a right to be king. Then I will give him that right.'

28 "And you, human, prophesy and say: 'This is what the Lord God says about the people of Ammon and their insults: A sword, a sword is pulled out of its holder. It is polished to kill and destroy, to flash like lightning!

29 Prophets see false visions about you and prophesy lies about you. The sword will be put on the necks of these unclean and evil people. Their day of judging has come; the time of final punishment has come.

30 Put the sword back in its holder. I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land where you were born.

31 I will pour out my anger against you and blast you with the fire of my anger. I will hand you over to cruel men, experts in destruction.

32 You will be like fuel for the fire; you will die in the land. You will not be remembered, because I, the Lord, have spoken.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "And you, human, will you judge? Will you judge the city of murderers? Then tell her about all her hateful acts.

3 You are to say: 'This is what the Lord God says: You are a city that kills those who come to live there. You make yourself unclean by making idols.

4 You have become guilty of murder and have become unclean by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your time of punishment near; you have come to the end of your years. That is why I have made you a shame to the nations and why all lands laugh at you.

5 Those near and those far away laugh at you with your bad name, you city full of confusion.

6 "'Jerusalem, see how each ruler of Israel in you has been trying to kill people.

7 The people in you hate their fathers and mothers. They mistreat the foreigners in you and wrong the orphans and widows in you.

8 You hate my holy things and dishonor my Sabbaths.

9 The men in you tell lies to cause the death of others. The people in you eat food offered to idols at the mountain places of worship, and they take part in sexual sins.

10 The men in you have sexual relations with their fathers' wives and with women who are unclean, during their time of monthly bleeding.

11 One man in you does a hateful act with his neighbor's wife, while another has shamefully made his daughter-in-law unclean sexually. And another forces his half sister to have sexual relations with him.

12 The people in you take money to kill others. You take unfair interest and profits and make profits by mistreating your neighbor. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.

13 "'So, Jerusalem, I will shake my fist at you for stealing money and for murdering people.

14 Will you still be brave and strong when I punish you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act.

15 I will scatter you among the nations and spread you through the countries. That is how I will get rid of your uncleanness.

16 But you, yourself, will be dishonored in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

17 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

18 "Human, the people of Israel have become useless like scum to me. They are like the copper, tin, iron, and lead left in the furnace when silver is purified.

19 So this is what the Lord God says: 'Because you have become useless like scum, I am going to put you together inside Jerusalem.

20 People put silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin together inside a furnace to melt them down in a blazing fire. In the same way I will gather you in my hot anger and put you together in Jerusalem and melt you down.

21 I will put you together and make you feel the heat of my anger. You will be melted down inside Jerusalem.

22 As silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.'"

23 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

24 "Human, say to the land, 'You are a land that has not had rain or showers when God is angry.'

25 Like a roaring lion that tears the animal it has caught, Israel's rulers make evil plans. They have destroyed lives and have taken treasure and valuable things. They have caused many women to become widows.

26 Israel's priests do cruel things to my teachings and do not honor my holy things. They make no difference between holy and unholy things, and they teach there is no difference between clean and unclean things. They do not remember my Sabbaths, so I am dishonored by them.

27 Like wolves tearing a dead animal, Jerusalem's leaders have killed people for profit.

28 And the prophets try to cover this up by false visions and by lying messages. They say, 'This is what the Lord God says' when the Lord has not spoken.

29 The people cheat others and steal. They hurt people who are poor and needy. They cheat foreigners and do not treat them fairly.

30 "I looked for someone to build up the walls and to stand before me where the walls are broken to defend these people so I would not have to destroy them. But I could not find anyone.

31 So I let them see my anger. I destroyed them with an anger that was like fire because of all the things they have done, says the Lord God."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, a woman had two daughters.

3 While they were young, they went to Egypt and became prostitutes. They let men touch and hold their breasts.

4 The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became my wives and had sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem

5 "While still my wife, Samaria had sexual relations with other men. She had great sexual desire for her lovers, men from Assyria. The Assyrians were warriors and

6 wore blue uniforms. They were all handsome young captains and lieutenants riding on horseback.

7 Samaria became a prostitute for all the important men in Assyria and made herself unclean with all the idols of everyone she desired.

8 She continued the prostitution she began in Egypt. When she was young, she had slept with men, and they touched her breasts and had sexual relations with her.

9 "So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, that she wanted so badly.

10 They stripped her naked and took away her sons and daughters. Then they killed her with a sword. Women everywhere began talking about how she had been punished.

11 "Her sister Jerusalem saw what happened, but she became worse than her sister in her sexual desire and prostitution.

12 She also desired the Assyrians, who were all soldiers in beautiful uniforms -- handsome young captains and lieutenants riding horses.

13 I saw that both girls were alike; both were prostitutes.

14 "But Jerusalem went even further. She saw carvings of Babylonian men on a wall. They wore re

15 and had belts around their waists and turbans on their heads. They all looked like chariot officers born in Babylonia.

16 When she saw them, she wanted to have sexual relations with them and sent messengers to them in Babylonia.

17 So these Babylonian men came and had sexual relations with her and made her unclean. After that, she became sick of them.

18 But she continued her prostitution so openly that everyone knew about it. And I finally became sick of her, as I had her sister.

19 But she remembered how she was a young prostitute in Egypt, so she took part in even more prostitution

20 She wanted men who behaved like animals in their sexual desire.

21 In the same way you desired to do the sinful things you had done in Egypt. There men touched and held your young breasts

22 "So, Jerusalem, this is what the Lord God says: You are tired of your lovers. So now I will make them angry with you and have them attack you from all sides.

23 Men from Babylon and all Babylonia and men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa will attack you. All the Assyrians will attack you: handsome young captains and lieutenants, all of them important men and all riding horses.

24 Those men will attack with great armies and with their weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will surround you with large and small shields and with helmets. And I will give them the right to punish you, and they will give you their own kind of punishment.

25 Then you will see how strong my anger can be when they punish you in their anger. They will cut off your noses and ears. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those who are left will be burned.

26 They will take off your clothes and steal your jewelry.

27 I will put a stop to the sinful life you began when you were in Egypt so that you will not desire it or remember Egypt anymore.

28 "This is what the Lord God says: You became tired of your lovers, but I am going to hand you over to those men you now hate.

29 They will treat you with hate and take away everything you worked for, leaving you empty and naked. Everyone will know about the sinful things you did. Your sexual sins

30 have brought this on you. You have had sexual relations with the nations and made yourselves unclean by worshiping their idols.

31 You did the same things your sister did, so you will get the same punishment, like a bitter cup to drink.

32 "This is what the Lord God says: You will drink the same cup your sister did, and that cup is deep and wide. Everyone will make fun of you, because the cup is full.

33 It will make you miserable and drunk. It is the cup of fear and ruin. It is the cup of your sister Samaria.

34 You will drink everything in it, and then you will smash it and tear at your breasts. I have spoken, says the Lord God.

35 "So this is what the Lord God says: You have forgotten me and turned your back on me. So you will be punished for your sexual sins."

36 The Lord said to me: "Human, will you judge Samaria and Jerusalem, showing them their hateful acts

37 They are guilty of adultery and murder. They have taken part in adultery with their idols. They even offered our children as sacrifices in the fire to be food for these idols.

38 They have also done this to me: They made my Temple unclean at the same time they dishonored my Sabbaths

39 They sacrificed their children to their idols. Then they entered my Temple at that very time to dishonor it. That is what they did inside my Temple!

40 "They even sent for men from far away, who came after a messenger was sent to them. The two sisters bathed themselves for them, painted their eyes, and put on jewelry.

41 They sat on a fine bed with a table set before it, on which they put my incense and my oil.

42 "There was the noise of a reckless crowd in the city. Common people gathered, and drunkards were brought from the desert. They put bracelets on the wrists of the two sisters and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 Then I said about the one who was worn out by her acts of adultery, 'Let them continue their sexual sins with her. She is nothing but a prostitute.'

44 They kept going to her as they would go to a prostitute. So they continued to go to Samaria and Jerusalem, these shameful women.

45 But men who do right will punish them as they punish women who take part in adultery and who murder people, because they are guilty of adultery and murder.

46 "This is what the Lord God says: Bring together a mob against Samaria and Jerusalem, and hand them over to be frightened and robbed.

47 Let the mob kill them by throwing stones at them, and let them cut them down with their swords. Let them kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses down.

48 "So I will put an end to sexual sins in the land. Then all women will be warned, and they will not do the sexual sins you have done.

49 You will be punished for your sexual sins and the sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord God."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me in the ninth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month. He said:

2 "Human, write down today's date, this very date. The king of Babylon has surrounded Jerusalem this very day.

3 And tell a story to the people who refuse to obey me. Say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: Put on the pot; put it on and pour water in it.

4 Put in the pieces of meat, the best pieces -- the legs and the shoulders. Fill it with the best bones.

5 Take the best of the flock, and pile wood under the pot. Boil the pieces of meat until even the bones are cooked.

6 "'This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the city of murderers! How terrible it will be for the rusty pot whose rust will not come off! Take the meat out of it, piece by piece. Don't choose any special piece.

7 "'The blood from her killings is still in the city. She poured the blood on the bare rock. She did not pour it on the ground where dust would cover it.

8 To stir up my anger and revenge, I put the blood she spilled on the bare rock so it will not be covered.

9 "'So this is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the city of murderers! I myself will pile the wood high for burning.

10 Pile up the wood and light the fire. Finish cooking the meat. Mix in the spices, and let the bones burn.

11 Then set the empty pot on the coals so it may become hot and its copper sides glow. The dirty scum stuck inside it may then melt and its rust burn away.

12 But efforts to clean the pot have failed. Its heavy rust cannot be removed, even in the fire.

13 "'By your sinful action you have become unclean. I wanted to cleanse you, but you are still unclean. You will never be cleansed from your sin until my anger against you is carried out.

14 "'I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back punishment or feel pity or change my mind. I will judge you by your ways and actions, says the Lord God.'"

15 Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

16 "Human, I am going to take your wife from you, the woman you look at with love. She will die suddenly, but you must not be sad or cry loudly for her or shed any tears.

17 Groan silently; do not cry loudly for the dead. Tie on your turban, and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your face, and do not eat the food people eat when they are sad about a death."

18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.

19 Then the people asked me, "Tell us, what do the things you are doing mean for us?"

20 Then I said to them, "The Lord spoke his word to me. He said,

21 'Say to the people of Israel, This is what the Lord God says: I am going to dishonor my Temple. You think it gives you strength. You are proud of it, and you look at it with love and tenderness. But your sons and daughters that you left behind in Jerusalem will fall dead by the sword.

22 When that happens, you are to act as I have: you are not to cover your face, and you are not to eat the food people eat when they are sad about a death.

23 Your turbans must stay on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You must not cry loudly, but you must rot away in your sins and groan to each other.

24 So Ezekiel is to be an example for you. You must do all the same things he did. When all this happens, you will know that I am the Lord God.'

25 "And as for you, human, this is how it will be. I will take away the Temple that gives them strength and joy, that makes them proud. They look at it with love, and it makes them happy. And I will take away their sons and daughters also.

26 At that time a person who escapes will come to you with information for you to hear.

27 At that very time your mouth will be opened. You will speak and be silent no more. So you will be a sign for them, and they will know that I am the Lord."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, look toward the people of Ammon and prophesy against them.

3 Say to them, 'Hear the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says: You were glad when my Temple was dishonored, when the land of Israel was ruined, and when the people of Judah were taken away as captives.

4 So I am going to give you to the people of the East to be theirs. They will set up their camps among you and make their homes among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

5 I will make the city of Rabbah a pasture for camels and the land of Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

6 This is what the Lord God says: You have clapped your hands and stamped your feet; you have laughed about all the insults you made against the land of Israel.

7 So I will use my power against you. I will give you to the nations as if you were treasures taken in war. I will wipe you out of the lands so you will no longer be a nation, and I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'

8 "This is what the Lord God says: 'Moab and Edom say, "The people of Judah are like all the other nations."

9 So I am going to take away the cities that protect Moab's borders, the best cities in that land: Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim.

10 Then I will give Moab, along with the Ammonites, to the people of the East as their possession. Then, along with the Ammonites, Moab will not be a nation anymore.

11 So I will punish the people of Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord.'

12 "This is what the Lord God says: 'Edom took revenge on the people of Judah, and the Edomites became guilty because of it.

13 So this is what the Lord God says: I will use my power against Edom, killing every human and animal in it. And I will destroy Edom all the way from Teman to Dedan as they die in battle.

14 I will use my people Israel to take revenge on Edom. So the Israelites will do to Edom what my hot anger demands. Then the Edomites will know what my revenge feels like, says the Lord God.'

15 "This is what the Lord God says: 'The Philistines have taken revenge with hateful hearts. Because of their strong hatred, they have tried to destroy Judah.

16 So this is what the Lord God says: I will use my power against the Philistines. I will kill the Kerethites, and I will destroy those people still alive on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

17 I will punish them in my anger and do great acts of revenge to them. They will know that I am the Lord when I take revenge on them.'"

1 It was the eleventh year of our captivity, on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, the city of Tyre has spoken against Jerusalem: 'The city that traded with the nations is destroyed. Now we can be the trading center. Since the city of Jerusalem is ruined, we can make money.'

3 So this is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Tyre. I will bring many nations against you, like the sea beating its waves on your island shores.

4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers. I will also scrape away her ruins and make her a bare rock.

5 Tyre will be an island where fishermen dry their nets. I have spoken, says the Lord God. The nations will steal treasures from Tyre.

6 Also, her villages on the shore across from the island will be destroyed by war. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

7 "This is what the Lord God says: I will bring a king from the north against Tyre. He is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the greatest king, with his horses, chariots, horsemen, and a great army.

8 He will fight a battle and destroy your villages on the shore across from the island. He will set up devices to attack you. He will build a road of earth to the top of the walls. He will raise his shields against you.

9 He will bring logs to pound through your city walls, and he will break down your towers with his iron bars.

10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with their dust. Your walls will shake at the noise of horsemen, wagons, and chariots. The king of Babylon will enter your city gates as men enter a city where the walls are broken through.

11 The hoofs of his horses will run over your streets. He will kill your army with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall down to the ground.

12 Also, his men will take away your riches and will steal the things you sell. They will break down your walls and destroy your nice houses. They will throw your stones, wood, and trash into the sea.

13 So I will stop your songs; the music of your harps will not be heard anymore.

14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will be a place for drying fishing nets. You will not be built again, because I, the Lord, have spoken, says the Lord God.

15 "This is what the Lord God says to Tyre: The people who live along the seacoast will shake with fear when they hear about your defeat. Those of you who are injured and dying will groan.

16 Then all the leaders of the seacoast will get down from their thrones, take off their beautiful needlework clothes, and show how afraid they are. They will sit on the ground and tremble all the time. When they see you, they will be shocked.

17 They will begin singing a funeral song about you and will say to you: 'Tyre, you famous city, you have been destroyed! You have lost your sea power! You and your people had great power on the seas. You made everyone around you afraid of you.

18 Now the people who live by the coast tremble, now that you have fallen. The islands of the sea are afraid because you have been defeated.'

19 "This is what the Lord God says: I will make you an empty city, like cities that have no people living in them. I will bring the deep ocean waters over you, and the Mediterranean Sea will cover you.

20 At that time I will send you down to the place of the dead to join those who died long ago. I will make you live with the dead below the earth in places that are like old ruins. You will not come back from there or have any place in the world of the living again.

21 Other people will be afraid of what happened to you, and it will be the end of you. People will look for you, but they will never find you again, says the Lord God."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, sing a funeral song for the city of Tyre.

3 Speak to Tyre, which has ports for the Mediterranean Sea and is a place for trade for the people of many lands along the seacoast. 'This is what the Lord God says: Tyre, you have said, "I am like a beautiful ship."

4 You were at home on the high seas. Your builders made your beauty perfect.

5 They made all your boards of fir trees from Mount Hermon. to make a ship's mast for you.

6 They made your oars from oak trees from Bashan. They made your deck from cypress trees from the coast of Cyprus and set ivory into it.

7 Your sail of linen with designs sewed on it came from Egypt and became like a flag for you. Your cloth shades over the deck were blue and purple and came from the island of Cyprus.

8 Men from Sidon and Arvad used oars to row you. Tyre, your skilled men were the sailors on your deck.

9 Workers of Byblos were with you, putting caulkn in your ship's seams. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade with you.

10 "'Men of Persia, Lydia, and Put were warriors in your navy and hung their shields and helmets on your sides. They made you look beautiful.

11 Men of Arvad and Cilicia guarded your city walls all around. were in your watchtowers and hung their shields around your walls. They made your beauty perfect.

12 "'People of Tarshish became traders for you because of your great wealth. They traded your goods for silver, iron, tin, and lead.

13 "'People of Greece, Tubal, and Meshech became merchants for you. They traded your goods for slaves and items of bronze.

14 "'People of Beth Togarmah traded your goods for work horses, war horses, and mules.

15 "'People of Rhodes became merchants for you, selling your goods on many coastlands. They brought back ivory tusks and valuable black wood as your payment.

16 "'People of Aram became traders for you, because you had so many good things to sell. They traded your goods for turquoise, purple cloth, cloth with designs sewed on, fine linen, coral, and rubies.

17 "'People of Judah and Israel became merchants for you. They traded your goods for wheat from Minnith, and for honey, olive oil, and balm.

18

19 "'People of Damascus became traders for you because you have many good things and great wealth. They traded your goods for wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar, and barrels of wine from Izal. They received wrought iron, cassia, and sugar cane in payment for your good things.

20 "'People of Dedan became merchants for you, trading saddle blankets for riding.

21 "'People of Arabia and all the rulers of Kedar became traders for you. They received lambs, male sheep, and goats in payment for you.

22 "'The merchants of Sheba and Raamah became merchants for you. They traded your goods for all the best spices, valuable gems, and gold.

23 "'People of Haran, Canneh, Eden, and the traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad became merchants for you.

24 They were paid with the best clothes, blue cloth, cloth with designs sewed on, carpets of many colors, and tightly wound ropes.

25 "'Trading ships carried the things you sold. You were like a ship full of heavy cargo in the middle of the sea.

26 The men who rowed you brought you out into the high seas, but the east wind broke you to pieces in the middle of the sea.

27 Your wealth, your trade, your goods, your seamen, your sailors, your workers, your traders, your warriors, and everyone else on board sank into the sea on the day your ship was wrecked.

28 The people on the shore shake with fear when your sailors cry out.

29 All the men who row leave their ships; the seamen and the sailors of other ships stand on the shore.

30 They cry loudly about you; they cry very much. They throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes to show they are sad.

31 They shave their heads for you, and they put on rough cloth to show they are upset. They cry and sob for you; they cry loudly.

32 And in their loud crying they sing a funeral song for you: "No one was ever destroyed like Tyre, surrounded by the sea."

33 When the goods you traded went out over the seas, you met the needs of many nations. With your great wealth and goods, you made kings of the earth rich.

34 But now you are broken by the sea and have sunk to the bottom. Your goods and all the people on board have gone down with you.

35 All those who live along the shore are shocked by what happened to you. Their kings are terribly afraid, and their faces show their fear.

36 The traders among the nations hiss at you. You have come to a terrible end, and you are gone forever.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, say to the ruler of Tyre: 'This is what the Lord God says: Because you are proud, you say, "I am a god. I sit on the throne of a god in the middle of the seas." You think you are as wise as a god, but you are a human, not a god.

3 You think you are wiser than Daniel. You think you can find out all secrets.

4 Through your wisdom and understanding you have made yourself rich. You have gained gold and silver and have saved it in your storerooms.

5 Through your great skill in trading, you have made your riches grow. You are too proud because of your riches.

6 "'So this is what the Lord God says: You think you are wise like a god,

7 but I will bring foreign people against you, the cruelest nation. They will pull out their swords and destroy all that your wisdom has built, and they will dishonor your greatness.

8 They will kill you; you will die a terrible death like those who are killed at sea.

9 While they are killing you, you will not be able to say anymore, "I am a god." You will be only a human, not a god, when your murderers kill you.

10 You will die like an unclean person; foreigners will kill you. I have spoken, says the Lord God.'"

11 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

12 "Human, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre. Say to him: 'This is what the Lord God says: You were an example of what was perfect, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13 You had a wonderful life, as if you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every valuable gem was on you: ruby, topaz, and emerald, yellow quartz, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and chrysolite. Your jewelry was made of gold. It was prepared on the day you were created.

14 I appointed a living creature to guard you. I put you on the holy mountain of God. You walked among the gems that shined like fire.

15 Your life was right and good from the day you were created, until evil was found in you.

16 Because you traded with countries far away, you learned to be cruel, and you sinned. So I threw you down in disgrace from the mountain of God. And the living creature who guarded you forced you out from among the gems that shined like fire.

17 You became too proud because of your beauty. You ruined your wisdom because of your greatness. I threw you down to the ground. Your example taught a lesson to other kings.

18 You dishonored your places of worship through your many sins and dishonest trade. So I set on fire the place where you lived, and the fire burned you up. I turned you into ashes on the ground for all those watching to see.

19 All the nations who knew you are shocked about you. Your punishment was so terrible, and you are gone forever.'"

20 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

21 "Human, look toward the city of Sidon and prophesy against her.

22 Say: 'This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Sidon, and I will show my glory among you. when I have punished Sidon; I will show my holiness by defeating her.

23 I will send diseases to Sidon, and blood will flow in her streets. Those who are wounded in Sidon will fall dead, attacked from all sides. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

24 "'No more will neighboring nations be like thorny branches or sharp stickers to hurt Israel. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

25 "'This is what the Lord God says: I will gather the people of Israel from the nations where they are scattered. I will show my holiness when the nations see what I do for my people. Then they will live in their own land -- the land I gave to my servant Jacob.

26 They will live safely in the land and will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live in safety after I have punished all the nations around who hate them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.'"

1 It was the tenth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, look toward the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and all Egypt.

3 Say: 'This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, king of Egypt. You are like a great crocodile that lies in the Nile River. You say, "The Nile is mine; I made it for myself."

4 But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of the Nile stick to your sides. I will pull you up out of your rivers, with all the fish sticking to your sides.

5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish from your rivers. You will fall onto the ground; you will not be picked up or buried. I have given you to the wild animals and to the birds of the sky for food.

6 Then all the people who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. "'Israel tried to lean on you for help, but you were like a crutch made out of a weak stalk of grass.

7 When their hands grabbed you, you splintered and tore open their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and made all their backs twist.

8 "'So this is what the Lord God says: I will cause an enemy to attack you and kill your people and animals.

9 Egypt will become an empty desert. Then they will know that I am the Lord. "'Because you said, "The Nile River is mine, and I have made it,"

10 I am against you and your rivers. I will destroy the land of Egypt and make it an empty desert from Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, all the way to the border of Cush.

11 No person or animal will walk through it, and no one will live in Egypt for forty years.

12 I will make the land of Egypt the most deserted country of all. Her cities will be the most deserted of all ruined cities for forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, spreading them among the countries.

13 "'This is what the Lord God says: After forty years I will gather Egypt from the nations where they have been scattered.

14 I will bring back the Egyptian captives and make them return to southern Egypt, to the land they came from. They will become a weak kingdom there.

15 It will be the weakest kingdom, and it will never again rule other nations. I will make it so weak it will never again rule over the nations.

16 The Israelites will never again depend on Egypt. Instead, Egypt's punishment will remind the Israelites of their sin in turning to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.'"

17 It was the twenty-seventh year of our captivity, in the first month, on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

18 "Human, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army fight hard against Tyre. Every soldier's head was rubbed bare, and every shoulder was rubbed raw. But Nebuchadnezzar and his army gained nothing from fighting Tyre.

19 So this is what the Lord God says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will take away Egypt's people and its wealth and its treasures as pay for his army.

20 I am giving Nebuchadnezzar the land of Egypt as a reward for working hard for me, says the Lord God.

21 "At that time I will make Israel grow strong again, and I will let you, Ezekiel, speak to them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord God says: Cry and say, "The terrible day is coming."

3 The day is near; the Lord's day of judging is near. It is a cloudy day and a time when the nations will be judged.

4 An enemy will attack Egypt, and Cush will tremble with fear. When the killing begins in Egypt, her wealth will be taken away, and her foundations will be torn down.

5 Cush, Put, Lydia, Arabia, Libya, and some of my people who had made an agreement with Egypt will fall dead in war.

6 "'This is what the Lord says: Those who fight on Egypt's side will fall. The power she is proud of will be lost. from Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, says the Lord God.

7 They will be the most deserted lands. Egypt's cities will be the worst of cities that lie in ruins.

8 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I set fire to Egypt and when all those nations on her side are crushed.

9 "'At that time I will send messengers in ships to frighten Cush, which now feels safe. The people of Cush will tremble with fear when Egypt is punished. And that time is sure to come.

10 "'This is what the Lord God says: through the power of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11 Nebuchadnezzar and his army, the cruelest army of any nation, will be brought in to destroy the land. and will fill the land with those they kill.

12 I will make the streams of the Nile River become dry land, and then I will sell the land to evil people. I will destroy the land and everything in it through the power of foreigners. I, the Lord, have spoken.

13 "'This is what the Lord God says: I will destroy the idols and take away the statues of gods from the city of Memphis. There will no longer be a leader in Egypt, and I will spread fear through the land of Egypt.

14 I will make southern Egypt empty and start a fire in Zoan and punish Thebes.

15 And I will pour out my anger against Pelusium, the strong place of Egypt. I will destroy great numbers of people in Thebes.

16 I will set fire to Egypt. Pelusium will be in great pain. The walls of Thebes will be broken open, and Memphis will have troubles every day.

17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall dead in war, and the people will be taken away as captives.

18 In Tahpanhes the day will be dark when I break Egypt's power. Then she will no longer be proud of her power. A cloud will cover Egypt, and her villages will be captured and taken away.

19 So I will punish Egypt, and they will know I am the Lord.'"

20 It was in the eleventh year of our captivity, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

21 "Human, I have broken the powerful arm of the king of Egypt. It has not been tied up, so it will not get well. It has not been wrapped with a bandage, so it will not be strong enough to hold a sword in war.

22 So this is what the Lord God says: I am against the king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong arm and the broken arm, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.

23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, spreading them among the countries.

24 I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong and put my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of the king of Egypt. Then when he faces the king of Babylon, he will cry out in pain like a dying person.

25 So I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of the king of Egypt will fall. Then people will know that I am the Lord when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he uses it in war against Egypt.

26 Then I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, spreading them among the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 It was in the eleventh year of our captivity, in the third month, on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, say to the king of Egypt and his people: 'No one is like you in your greatness.

3 Assyria was once like a cedar tree in Lebanon with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It was very tall; its top was among the clouds.

4 Much water made the tree grow; the deep springs made it tall. Rivers flowed around the bottom of the tree and sent their streams to all other trees in the countryside.

5 So the tree was taller than all the other trees in the countryside. Its limbs became long and big because of so much water.

6 All the birds of the sky made their nests in the tree's limbs. And all the wild animals gave birth under its branches. All great nations lived in the tree's shade.

7 So the tree was great and beautiful, with its long branches, because its roots reached down to much water.

8 The cedar trees in the garden of God were not as great as it was. The pine trees did not have such great limbs. The plane trees did not have such branches. was as beautiful as this tree.

9 I made it beautiful with many branches, and all the trees of Eden in the garden of God wanted to be like it.

10 "'So this is what the Lord God says: The tree grew tall. Its top reached the clouds, and it became proud of its height.

11 So I handed it over to a mighty ruler of the nations for him to punish it. Because it was evil, I got rid of it.

12 The cruelest foreign nation cut it down and left it. The tree's branches fell on the mountains and in all the valleys, and its broken limbs were in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth left the shade of that tree.

13 The birds of the sky live on the fallen tree. The wild animals live among the tree's fallen branches.

14 So the trees that grow by the water will not be proud to be tall; they will not put their tops among the clouds. None of the trees that are watered well will grow that tall, because they all are meant to die and go under the ground. They will be with people who have died and have gone down to the place of the dead.

15 "'This is what the Lord God says: On the day when the tree went down to the place of the dead, I made the deep springs cry loudly. I covered them and held back their rivers, and the great waters stopped flowing. I dressed Lebanon in black to show her sadness about the great tree, and all the trees in the countryside were sad about it.

16 I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of the tree falling when I brought it down to the place of the dead. It went to join those who have gone down to the grave. Then all the trees of Eden and the best trees of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were comforted in the place of the dead below the earth.

17 These trees had also gone down with the great tree to the place of the dead. They joined those who were killed in war and those among the nations who had lived under the great tree's shade.

18 "'So no tree in Eden is equal to you, Egypt, in greatness and honor, but you will go down to join the trees of Eden in the place below the earth. You will lie among unclean people, with those who were killed in war. "'This is about the king of Egypt and all his people, says the Lord God.'"

1 It was in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, sing a funeral song about the king of Egypt. Say to him: 'You are like a young lion among the nations. You are like a crocodile in the seas. You splash around in your streams and stir up the water with your feet, making the rivers muddy.

3 "'This is what the Lord God says: I will spread my net over you, and I will use a large group of people to pull you up in my net.

4 Then I will throw you on the land dropping you onto the ground. I will let the birds of the sky rest on you and all the animals of the earth eat you until they are full.

5 I will scatter your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with what is left of you.

6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood as far as the mountains, and the ravines will be full of your flesh.

7 When I make you disappear, I will cover the sky and make the stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not shine.

8 I will make all the shining lights in the sky become dark over you; I will bring darkness over your land, says the Lord God.

9 I will cause many people to be afraid when I bring you as a captive into other nations, to lands you have not known.

10 I will cause many people to be shocked about you. Their kings will tremble with fear because of you when I swing my sword in front of them. They will shake every moment on the day you fall; each king will be afraid for his own life.

11 "'So this is what the Lord God says: will attack you.

12 I will cause your people to fall by the swords of mighty soldiers, the most terrible in the world. and all its people.

13 I will also destroy all Egypt's cattle which live alongside much water. The foot of a human will not stir the water, and the hoofs of cattle will not muddy it anymore.

14 So I will let the Egyptians' water become clear. I will cause their rivers to run as smoothly as olive oil, says the Lord God.

15 When I make the land of Egypt empty and take everything that is in the land, when I destroy all those who live in Egypt, then they will know that I am the Lord.'

16 "This is the funeral song people will sing for Egypt. The women of the nations will sing it; they will sing a funeral song for Egypt and all its people, says the Lord God."

17 It was in the twelfth year of our captivity, on the fifteenth day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

18 "Human, cry for the people of Egypt. Bring down Egypt, together with the women of the powerful nations; bring them down to the place of the dead below the earth to join those who go to the place of the dead.

19 Say to them: 'Are you more beautiful than others? Go lie down in death with those who are unclean.'

20 The Egyptians will fall among those killed in war. The sword is ready; the enemy will drag Egypt and all her people away.

21 From the place of the dead the leaders of the mighty ones will speak about the king of Egypt and the nations which help him: 'The unclean, those killed in war, have come down here and lie dead.'

22 "Assyria and all its army lie dead there. The graves of their soldiers are all around. All were killed in war,

23 and their graves were put in the deepest parts of the place of the dead. Assyria's army lies around its grave. When they lived on earth, they frightened people, but now all of them have been killed in war.

24 "The nation of Elam is there with all its army around its grave. All of them were killed in war. They had frightened people on earth and were unclean, so they went down to the lowest parts of the place of the dead. They must carry their shame with those who have gone down to the place of the dead.

25 A bed has been made for Elam with all those killed in war. The graves of her soldiers are all around her. All Elam's people are unclean, killed in war. They frightened people when they lived on earth, but now they must carry their shame with those who have gone down to the place of the dead. Their graves are with the rest who were killed.

26 "Meshech and Tubal are there with the graves of all their soldiers around them. All of them are unclean and have been killed in war. They also frightened people when they lived on earth.

27 But they are not buried with the other soldiers who were killed in battle long ago, those who went with their weapons of war to the place of the dead. These soldiers had their swords laid under their heads and their shields on their bodies. These mighty soldiers used to frighten people when they lived on earth.

28 "You, king of Egypt, will be broken and lie among those who are unclean, who were killed in war.

29 "Edom is there also, with its kings and all its leaders. They were mighty, but now they lie in death with those killed in war, with those who are unclean, with those who have gone down to the place of the dead.

30 "All the rulers of the north and all the Sidonians are there. Their strength frightened people, but they have gone down in shame with those who were killed. They are unclean, lying with those killed in war. They carry their shame with those who have gone down to the place of the dead.

31 "The king of Egypt and his army will see these who have been killed in war. Then he will be comforted for all his soldiers killed in war, says the Lord God.

32 I made people afraid of the king of Egypt while he lived on earth. But he and all his people will lie among those who are unclean, who were killed in war, says the Lord God."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, speak to your people and say to them: 'Suppose I bring a war against a land. The people of the land may choose one of their men and make him their watchman.

3 When he sees the enemy coming to attack the land, he will blow the trumpet and warn the people.

4 If they hear the sound of the trumpet but do nothing, the enemy will come and kill them. They will be responsible for their own deaths.

5 They heard the sound of the trumpet but didn't do anything. So they are to blame for their own deaths. If they had done something, they would have saved their own lives.

6 But if the watchman sees the enemy coming to attack and does not blow the trumpet, the people will not be warned. Then if the enemy comes and kills any of them, they have died because of their own sin. But I will punish the watchman for their deaths.'

7 "You, human, are the one I have made a watchman for Israel. If you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them for me.

8 Suppose I say to the wicked: 'Wicked people, you will surely die,' but you don't speak to warn the wicked to stop doing evil. Then they will die because they were sinners, but I will punish you for their deaths.

9 But if you warn the wicked to stop doing evil and they do not stop, they will die because they were sinners. But you have saved your life.

10 "So you, human, say to Israel: 'You have said: Surely our law-breaking and sins are hurting us. They will kill us. What can we do so we will live?'

11 Say to them: 'The Lord God says: As surely as I live, I do not want any who are wicked to die. I want them to stop doing evil and live. Stop! Stop your wicked ways! You don't want to die, do you, people of Israel?'

12 "Human, say to your people: 'The goodness of those who do right will not save them when they sin. The evil of wicked people will not cause them to be punished if they stop doing it. If good people sin, they will not be able to live by the good they did earlier.'

13 If I tell good people, 'You will surely live,' they might think they have done enough good and then do evil. Then none of the good things they did will be remembered. They will die because of the evil they have done.

14 Or, if I say to the wicked people, 'You will surely die,' they may stop sinning and do what is right and honest.

15 For example, they may return what somebody gave them as a promise to repay a loan, or pay back what they stole. If they live by the rules that give life and do not sin, then they will surely live, and they will not die.

16 They will not be punished for any of their sins. They now do what is right and fair, so they will surely live.

17 "Your people say: 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' But it is their own ways that are not fair.

18 When the good people stop doing good and do evil, they will die for their evil.

19 But when the wicked stop doing evil and do what is right and fair, they will live.

20 You still say: 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Israel, I will judge all of you by your own ways."

21 It was in the twelfth year of our captivity, on the fifth day of the tenth month. A person who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, "Jerusalem has been captured."

22 Now I had felt the power of the Lord on me the evening before. He had made me able to talk again before this person came to me. I could speak; I was not without speech anymore.

23 Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

24 "Human, people who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying: 'Abraham was only one person, yet he was given the land as his own. Surely the land has been given to us, who are many, as our very own.'

25 So say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with the blood still in it, you ask your idols for help, and you murder people. Should you then have the land as your very own?

26 You depend on your sword and do terrible things which I hate. Each of you has sexual relations with his neighbor's wife. So should you have the land?'

27 "Say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, those who are among the city ruins in Israel will be killed in war. I will cause those who live in the country to be eaten by wild animals. People hiding in the strongholds and caves will die of disease.

28 I will make the land an empty desert. The people's pride in the land's power will end. The mountains of Israel will become empty so that no one will pass through them.

29 They will know that I am the Lord when I make the land an empty desert because of the things they have done that I hate.'

30 "But as for you, human, your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of houses. They say to each other: 'Come now, and hear the message from the Lord.'

31 So they come to you in crowds as if they were really ready to listen. They sit in front of you as if they were my people and hear your words, but they will not obey them. With their mouths they tell me they love me, but their hearts desire their selfish profits.

32 To your people you are nothing more than a singer who sings love songs and has a beautiful voice and plays a musical instrument well. They hear your words, but they will not obey them.

33 "When this comes true, and it surely will happen, then the people will know that a prophet has been among them."

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, prophesy against the leaders of Israel, who are like shepherds. Prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the shepherds of Israel who feed only themselves! Why don't the shepherds feed the flock?

3 You eat the milk curds, and you clothe yourselves with the wool. You kill the fat sheep, but you do not feed the flock.

4 You have not made the weak strong. You have not healed the sick or put bandages on those that were hurt. You have not brought back those who strayed away or searched for the lost. But you have ruled the sheep with cruel force.

5 The sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for every wild animal.

6 My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered all over the face of the earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 "'So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says:

8 As surely as I live, my flock has been caught and eaten by all the wild animals, because the flock has no shepherd. The shepherds did not search for my flock. No, they fed themselves instead of my flock.

9 So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.

10 This is what the Lord God says: I am against the shepherds. I will blame them for what has happened to my sheep and will not let them tend the flock anymore. Then the shepherds will stop feeding themselves, and I will take my flock from their mouths so they will no longer be their food.

11 "'This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep and take care of them.

12 As a shepherd takes care of his scattered flock when it is found, I will take care of my sheep. I will save them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.

13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land and pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the places where people live in the land.

14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and they will eat grass on the high mountains of Israel. They will lie down on good ground where they eat grass, and they will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel.

15 I will feed my flock and lead them to rest, says the Lord God.

16 I will search for the lost, bring back those that strayed away, put bandages on those that were hurt, and make the weak strong. But I will destroy those sheep that are fat and strong. I will tend the sheep with fairness.

17 "'This is what the Lord God says: As for you, my flock, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the male sheep and the male goats.

18 Is it not enough for you to eat grass in the good land? Must you crush the rest of the grass with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you make the rest of the water muddy with your feet?

19 Must my flock eat what you crush, and must they drink what you make muddy with your feet?

20 "'So this is what the Lord God says to them: I, myself, will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

21 You push with your side and with your shoulder, and you knock down all the weak sheep with your horns until you have forced them away.

22 So I will save my flock; they will not be hurt anymore. I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 Then I will put over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and tend them and be their shepherd.

24 Then I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a ruler among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

25 "'I will make an agreement of peace with my sheep and will remove harmful animals from the land. Then the sheep will live safely in the desert and sleep in the woods.

26 I will bless them and let them live around my hill. I will cause the rains to come when it is time; there will be showers to bless them.

27 Also the trees in the countryside will give their fruit, and the land will give its harvest. And the sheep will be safe on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their captivity and save them from the power of those who made them slaves.

28 They will not be led captive by the nations again. The wild animals will not eat them, but they will live safely, and no one will make them afraid.

29 I will give them a place famous for its good crops, so they will no longer suffer from hunger in the land. They will not suffer the insults of other nations anymore.

30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. The nation of Israel will know that they are my people, says the Lord God.

31 You, my human sheep, are the sheep I care for, and I am your God, says the Lord God.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, look toward Edom and prophesy against it.

3 Say to it: 'This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Edom. I will stretch out my hand against you and make you an empty desert.

4 I will destroy your cities, and you will become empty. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

5 "'You have always been an enemy of Israel. You let them be defeated in war when they were in trouble at the time of their final punishment.

6 So the Lord God says, as surely as I live, I will let you be murdered. Murder will chase you. Since you did not hate murdering people, murder will chase you.

7 I will make Edom an empty ruin and destroy everyone who goes in or comes out of it.

8 I will fill its mountains with those who are killed. Those killed in war will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines.

9 I will make you a ruin forever; no one will live in your cities. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

10 "'You said, "These two nations, Israel and Judah, and these two lands will be ours. We will take them for our own." But the Lord was there.

11 So this is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, I will treat you just as you treated them. You were angry and jealous because you hated them. So I will punish you and show the Israelites who I am.

12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults against the mountains of Israel. You said, "They have been ruined. They have been given to us to eat."

13 You have not stopped your proud talk against me. I have heard you.

14 This is what the Lord God says: All the earth will be happy when I make you an empty ruin.

15 You were happy when the land of Israel was ruined, but I will do the same thing to you. Mount Seir and all Edom, you will become an empty ruin. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

1 "Human, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: 'Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.

2 This is what the Lord God says: The enemy has said about you, "Now the old places to worship gods have become ours."'

3 So prophesy and say: 'This is what the Lord God says: They have made you an empty ruin and have crushed you from all around. So you became a possession of the other nations. People have talked and whispered against you.

4 So, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. The Lord God speaks to the mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys, to the empty ruins and abandoned cities that have been robbed and laughed at by the other nations.

5 This is what the Lord God says: I speak in hot anger against the other nations. I speak against the people of Edom, who took my land for themselves with joy and with hate in their hearts. They forced out the people and took their pastureland.'

6 So prophesy about the land of Israel and say to the mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys: 'This is what the Lord God says: I speak in my jealous anger, because you have suffered the insults of the nations.

7 So this is what the Lord God says: I promise that the nations around you will also have to suffer insults.

8 "'But you, mountains of Israel, will grow branches and fruit for my people, who will soon come home.

9 I am concerned about you; I am on your side. You will be plowed, and seed will be planted in you.

10 I will increase the number of people who live on you, all the people of Israel. The cities will have people living in them, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

11 I will increase the number of people and animals living on you. They will grow and have many young. You will have people living on you as you did before, and I will make you better off than at the beginning. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

12 I will cause my people Israel to walk on you and own you, and you will belong to them. You will never again take their children away from them.

13 "'This is what the Lord God says: People say about you, "You eat people and take children from your nation."

14 But you will not eat people anymore or take away the children, says the Lord God.

15 I will not make you listen to insults from the nations anymore; you will not suffer shame from them anymore. You will not cause your nation to fall anymore, says the Lord God.'"

16 The Lord spoke his word to me again, saying:

17 "Human, when the nation of Israel was living in their own land, they made it unclean by their ways and the things they did. Their ways were like a woman's uncleanness in her time of monthly bleeding.

18 So I poured out my anger against them, because they murdered in the land and because they made the land unclean with their idols.

19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were spread through the countries. I punished them for how they lived and what they did.

20 They dishonored my holy name in the nations where they went. The nations said about them: 'These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave the land which he gave them.'

21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the nation of Israel had dishonored among the nations where they went.

22 "So say to the people of Israel, 'This is what the Lord God says: Israel, I am going to act, but not for your sake. I will do something to help my holy name, which you have dishonored among the nations where you went.

23 I will prove the holiness of my great name, which has been dishonored among the nations. You have dishonored it among these nations, but the nations will know that I am the Lord when I prove myself holy before their eyes, says the Lord God.

24 "'I will take you from the nations and gather you out of all the lands and bring you back into your own land.

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and your idols.

26 Also, I will teach you to respect me completely, and I will put a new way of thinking inside you. I will take out the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts of flesh.

27 I will put my Spirit inside you and help you live by my rules and carefully obey my laws.

28 You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.

29 So I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will command the grain to come and grow; I will not allow a time of hunger to hurt you.

30 I will increase the harvest of the field so you will never again suffer shame among the nations because of hunger.

31 Then you will remember your evil ways and actions that were not good, and you will hate yourselves because of your sins and your terrible acts that I hate.

32 I want you to know that I am not going to do this for your sake, says the Lord God. Be ashamed and embarrassed about your ways, Israel.

33 "'This is what the Lord God says: This is what will happen on the day I cleanse you from all your sins: I will cause the cities to have people living in them again, and the destroyed places will be rebuilt.

34 The empty land will be plowed so it will no longer be a ruin for everyone who passes by to see.

35 They will say, "This land was ruined, but now it has become like the garden of Eden. The cities were destroyed, empty, and ruined, but now they are protected and have people living in them."

36 Then those nations still around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was destroyed and have planted what was empty. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.'

37 "This is what the Lord God says: I will let myself be asked by the people of Israel to do this for them again: I will make their people grow in number like a flock.

38 They will be as many as the flocks brought to Jerusalem during her holy feasts. Her ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 I felt the power of the Lord on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and put me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones.

2 He led me around among the bones, and I saw that there were many bones in the valley and that they were very dry.

3 Then he asked me, "Human, can these bones live?" I answered, "Lord God, only you know."

4 He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

5 This is what the Lord God says to the bones: I will cause breath to enter you so you will come to life.

6 I will put muscles on you and flesh on you and cover you with skin. Then I will put breath in you so you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. While I prophesied, there was a noise and a rattling. The bones came together, bone to bone.

8 I looked and saw muscles come on the bones, and flesh grew, and skin covered the bones. But there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the wind. Prophesy, human, and say to the wind, 'This is what the Lord God says: Wind, come from the four winds, and breathe on these people who were killed so they can come back to life.'"

10 So I prophesied as the Lord commanded me. And the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a very large army.

11 Then he said to me, "Human, these bones are like all the people of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope has gone. We are destroyed.'

12 So, prophesy and say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves. Then I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 My people, you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and cause you to come up from them.

14 And I will put my Spirit inside you, and you will come to life. Then I will put you in your own land. And you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, says the Lord.'"

15 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying,

16 "Human, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah and all the Israelites with him.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'The stick of Ephraim, for Joseph and all the Israelites with him.'

17 Then join them together into one stick so they will be one in your hand.

18 "When your people say to you, 'Explain to us what you mean by this,'

19 say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: I will take the stick for Joseph and the tribes of Israel with him, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and I will put it with the stick of Judah. I will make them into one stick, and they will be one in my hand.'

20 Hold the sticks on which you wrote these names in your hand so the people can see them.

21 Say to the people, 'This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land.

22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule all of them. They will never again be two nations; they will not be divided into two kingdoms anymore.

23 They will not continue to make themselves unclean by their idols, their statues of gods which I hate, or by their sins. I will save them from all the ways they sin and turn against me, and I will make them clean. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.

24 "'My servant David will be their king, and they will all have one shepherd. They will live by my rules and obey my laws.

25 They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They will all live on the land forever: they, their children, and their grandchildren. David my servant will be their king forever.

26 I will make an agreement of peace with them, an agreement that continues forever. I will put them in their land and make them grow in number. Then I will put my Temple among them forever.

27 The place where I live will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

28 When my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy.'"

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying,

2 "Human, look toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him

3 and say, 'The Lord God says this: I am against you, Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal.

4 I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws. And I will bring you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of whom will be dressed in beautiful uniforms. They will be a large army with large and small shields and all having swords.

5 Persia, Cush, and Put will be with them, all of them having shields and helmets.

6 There will also be Gomer with all its troops and the nation of Togarmah from the far north with all its troops -- many nations with you.

7 "'Be prepared. Be prepared, you and all the armies that have come together to make you their commander.

8 After a long time you will be called for service. After those years you will come into a land that has been rebuilt from war. The people in the land will have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which were empty for a long time. These people were brought out from the nations, and they will all be living in safety.

9 You will come like a storm. You, all your troops, and the many nations with you will be like a cloud covering the land.

10 "'This is what the Lord God says: At that time ideas will come into your mind, and you will think up an evil plan.

11 You will say, "I will march against a land of towns without walls. I will attack those who are at rest and live in safety. All of them live without city walls or gate bars or gates.

12 I will capture treasures and take loot. I will turn my power against the rebuilt ruins that now have people living in them. I will attack these people who have been gathered from the nations, who have become rich with farm animals and property, who live at the center of the world."

13 Sheba, Dedan, and the traders of Tarshish, with all its villages, will say to you, "Did you come to capture treasure? Did you bring your troops together to take loot? Did you bring them to carry away silver and gold and to take away farm animals and property?"'

14 "So prophesy, human, and say to Gog, 'This is what the Lord God says: Now that my people Israel are living in safety, you will know about it.

15 You will come with many people from your place in the far north. You will have a large group with you, a mighty army, all riding on horses.

16 You will attack my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. This will happen in the days to come when I bring you against my land. Gog, then the nations will know me when they see me prove how holy I am in what I do through you.

17 "'This is what the Lord God says: You are the one about whom I spoke in past days. I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them.

18 This is what will happen: On the day Gog attacks the land of Israel, I will become very angry, says the Lord God.

19 With jealousy and great anger I tell you that at that time there will surely be a great earthquake in Israel.

20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild animals, everything that crawls on the ground, and all the people on the earth will shake with fear before me. Also the mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.

21 Then I will call for a war against Gog on all my mountains, says the Lord God. Everyone's sword will attack the soldier next to him.

22 I will punish Gog with disease and death. I will send a heavy rain with hailstones and burning sulfur on Gog, his army, and the many nations with him.

23 Then I will show how great I am. I will show my holiness, and I will make myself known to the many nations that watch. Then they will know that I am the Lord.'

1 "Human, prophesy against Gog and say, 'This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal.

2 I will turn you around and lead you. I will bring you from the far north and send you to attack the mountains of Israel.

3 I will knock your bow out of your left hand and throw down your arrows from your right hand.

4 You, all your troops, and the nations with you will fall dead on the mountains of Israel. I will let you be food for every bird that eats meat and for every wild animal.

5 You will lie fallen on the ground, because I have spoken, says the Lord God.

6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live in safety on the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

7 "'I will make myself known among my people Israel, and I will not let myself be dishonored anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

8 It is coming! It will happen, says the Lord God. The time I talked about is coming.

9 "'Then those who live in the cities of Israel will come out and make fires with the enemy's weapons. They will burn them, both large and small shields, bows and arrows, war clubs, and spears. They will use the weapons to burn in their fires for seven years.

10 They will not need to take wood from the field or chop firewood from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. In this way they will take the treasures of those who took their treasures; they will take the loot of those who took their loot, says the Lord God.

11 "'At that time I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the road for travelers. Gog and all his army will be buried there, so people will call it The Valley of Gog's Army.

12 "'The people of Israel will be burying them for seven months to make the land clean again.

13 All the people in the land will bury them, and they will be honored on the day of my victory, says the Lord God.

14 "'The people of Israel will choose men to work through the land to make it clean. Along with others, they will bury Gog's soldiers still lying dead on the ground. After the seven months are finished, they will still search.

15 As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone is to put a marker by it. The sign will stay there until the gravediggers bury the bone in The Valley of Gog's Army.

16 A city will be there named Hamonah. So they will make the land clean again.'

17 "Human, this is what the Lord God says: Speak to every kind of bird and wild animal: 'Come together, come! Come together from all around to my sacrifice, a great sacrifice which I will prepare for you on the mountains of Israel. Eat flesh and drink blood!

18 You are to eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the rulers of the earth as if they were fat animals from Bashan: male sheep, lambs, goats, and bulls.

19 You are to eat and drink from my sacrifice which I have prepared for you, eating fat until you are full and drinking blood until you are drunk.

20 At my table you are to eat until you are full of horses and riders, mighty men and all kinds of soldiers,' says the Lord God.

21 "I will show my glory among the nations. All the nations will see my power when I punish them.

22 From that time onward the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God.

23 The nations will know Israel was taken away captive because they turned against me. So I turned away from them and handed them over to their enemies until all of them died in war.

24 Because of their uncleanness and their sins, I punished them and turned away from them.

25 "So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will bring the people of Jacob back from captivity, and I will have mercy on the whole nation of Israel. I will not let them dishonor me.

26 The people will forget their shame and how they rejected me when they live again in safety on their own land with no one to make them afraid.

27 I will bring the people back from other lands and gather them from the lands of their enemies. So I will use my people to show many nations that I am holy.

28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into captivity among the nations, but then I brought them back to their own land, leaving no one behind.

29 I will not turn away from them anymore, because I will put my Spirit into the people of Israel, says the Lord God."

1 It was the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month. It was in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that same day I felt the power of the Lord, and he brought me to Jerusalem.

2 In the visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel and put me down on a very high mountain. On the south of the mountain there were some buildings that looked like a city.

3 He took me closer to the buildings, and I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze, standing in the gateway. He had a cord made of linen and a stick in his hand, both for measuring.

4 The man said to me, "Human, look with your eyes and hear with your ears. Pay attention to all that I will show you, because that's why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel all that you see."

5 I saw a wall that surrounded the Temple area. The measuring stick in the man's hand was ten and one-half feet long. So the man measured the wall, which was ten and one-half feet thick and ten and one-half feet high.

6 Then the man went to the east gateway. He went up its steps and measured the opening of the gateway. It was ten and one-half feet deep.

7 The rooms for the guards were ten and one-half feet long and ten and one-half feet wide. The walls that came out between the guards' rooms were about nine feet thick. The opening of the gateway next to the porch that faced the Temple was ten and one-half feet deep.

8 Then the man measured the porch of the gateway.

9 It was about fourteen feet deep, and its side walls were three and one-half feet thick. The porch of the gateway faced the Temple.

10 On each side of the east gateway were three rooms, which measured the same on each side. The walls between each room were the same thickness.

11 The man measured the width of the entrance to the gateway, which was seventeen and one-half feet wide. The width of the gate was about twenty-three feet.

12 And there was a low wall about twenty-one inches high in front of each room. The rooms were ten and one-half feet on each side.

13 The man measured the gateway from the roof of one room to the roof of the opposite room. It was about forty-four feet from one door to the opposite door.

14 The man also measured the porch, which was about thirty-five feet wide. The courtyard was around the porch.

15 From the front of the outer side of the gateway to the front of the porch of the inner side of the gateway was eighty-seven and one-half feet.

16 The rooms and porch had small windows on both sides. The windows were narrower on the side facing the gateway. Carvings of palm trees were on each side wall of the rooms.

17 Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard where I saw rooms and a pavement of stones all around the court. Thirty rooms were along the edge of the paved walkway.

18 The pavement ran alongside the gates and was as deep as the gates were wide. This was the lower pavement.

19 Then the man measured from the outer wall to the inner wall. The outer court between these two walls was one hundred seventy-five feet on the east and on the north.

20 The man measured the length and width of the north gateway leading to the outer courtyard.

21 Its three rooms on each side, its inner walls, and its porch measured the same as the first gateway. It was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide.

22 Its windows, porch, and carvings of palm trees measured the same as the east gateway. Seven steps went up to the gateway, and the gateway's porch was at the inner end.

23 The inner courtyard had a gateway across from the northern gateway like the one on the east. The man measured it and found it was one hundred seventy-five feet from inner gateway to outer gateway.

24 Then the man led me south where I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its inner walls and its porch, and they measured the same as the other gateways.

25 The gateway and its porch had windows all around like the other gateways. It was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide.

26 Seven steps went up to this gateway. Its porch was at the inner end, and it had carvings of palm trees on its inner walls.

27 The inner courtyard had a gateway on its south side. The man measured from gate to gate on the south side, which was one hundred seventy-five feet.

28 Then the man brought me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. The inner south gateway measured the same as the gateways in the outer wall.

29 The inner south gateway's rooms, inner walls, and porch measured the same as the gateways in the outer wall. There were windows all around the gateway and its porch. The gateway was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide.

30 Each porch of each inner gateway was about forty-four feet long and about nine feet wide.

31 The inner south gateway's porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its side walls, and its stairway had eight steps.

32 The man brought me into the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the inner east gateway, and it was the same as the other gateways.

33 The inner east gateway's rooms, inside walls, and porch measured the same as the other gateways. Windows were all around the gateway and its porch. The inner east gateway was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide.

34 Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side, and its stairway had eight steps.

35 Then the man brought me to the inner north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same as the other gateways.

36 Its rooms, inner walls, and porch measured the same as the other gateways. There were windows all around the gateway, which was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide.

37 Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side, and its stairway had eight steps.

38 There was a room with a door that opened onto the porch of the inner north gateway. In this room the priests washed animals for the burnt offerings.

39 There were two tables on each side of the porch, on which animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and penalty offerings were killed.

40 Outside, by each side wall of the porch, at the entrance to the north gateway, were two more tables.

41 So there were four tables inside the gateway, and four tables outside. In all there were eight tables on which the priests killed animals for sacrifices.

42 There were four tables made of cut stone for the burnt offering. These tables were about three feet long, three feet wide, and about two feet high. On these tables the priests put their tools which they used to kill animals for burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.

43 Double shelves three inches wide were put up on all the walls. The flesh for the offering was put on the tables.

44 There were two rooms in the inner courtyard. One was beside the north gateway and faced south. The other room was beside the south gateway and faced north.

45 The man said to me, "The room which faces south is for the priests who serve in the Temple area,

46 while the room that faces north is for the priests who serve at the altar. This second group of priests are descendants of Zadok, the only descendants of Levi who can come near the Lord to serve him."

47 The man measured the inner courtyard. It was a square -- one hundred seventy-five feet long and one hundred seventy-five feet wide. The altar was in front of the Temple.

48 The man brought me to the porch of the Temple and measured each side wall of the porch. Each was about nine feet thick. The doorway was twenty-four and one-half feet wide. The side walls of the doorway were each about five feet wide.

49 The porch was thirty-five feet long and twenty-one feet wide, with ten steps leading up to it. Pillars were by the side walls, one on each side of the entrance.

1 The man brought me to the Holy Place and measured its side walls, which were each ten and one-half feet thick.

2 The entrance was seventeen and one-half feet wide. The walls alongside the entrance were each about nine feet wide. The man measured the Holy Place, which was seventy feet long and thirty-five feet wide.

3 Then the man went inside and measured the side walls of the next doorway. Each was three and one-half feet thick. The doorway was ten and one-half feet wide, and the walls next to it were each more than twelve feet thick.

4 Then the man measured the room at the end of the Holy Place. It was thirty-five feet long and thirty-five feet wide. The man said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place."

5 Then the man measured the wall of the Temple, which was ten and one-half feet thick. There were side rooms seven feet wide all around the Temple.

6 The side rooms were on three different stories, each above the other, with thirty rooms on each story. All around the Temple walls there were ledges for the side rooms. The upper rooms rested on the ledges but were not attached to the Temple walls.

7 The side rooms around the Temple were wider on each higher story, so rooms were wider on the top story. A stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest through the middle story.

8 I also saw that the Temple had a raised base all around. Its edge was the foundation for the side rooms, and it was ten and one-half feet thick.

9 The outer wall of the side rooms was about nine feet thick. There was an open area between the side rooms of the Temple

10 and some other rooms. It was thirty-five feet wide and went all around the Temple.

11 The side rooms had doors which led to the open area around the outside of the Temple. One door faced north, and the other faced south. The open area was about nine feet wide all around.

12 The building facing the private area at the west side was one hundred twenty-two and one-half feet wide. The wall around the building was about nine feet thick and one hundred fifty-seven and one-half feet long.

13 Then the man measured the Temple. It was one hundred seventy-five feet long. The private area, including the building and its walls, was in all one hundred seventy-five feet long.

14 Also the front of the Temple and the private area on its east side were one hundred seventy-five feet wide.

15 The man measured the length of the building facing the private area on the west side, and it was one hundred seventy-five feet from one wall to the other. The Holy Place, the Most Holy Place, and the outer porch

16 had wood panels on the walls. By the doorway, the Temple had wood panels on the walls. The wood covered all the walls from the floor up to the windows,

17 up to the part of the wall above the entrance. All the walls inside the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place, and on the outside, in the porch,

18 had carvings of creatures with wings and palm trees. A palm tree was between each carved creature, and every creature had two faces.

19 One was a human face looking toward the palm tree on one side. The other was a lion's face looking toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all around the Temple walls.

20 From the floor to above the entrance, palm trees and creatures with wings were carved. The walls of the Holy Place

21 had square doorposts. In front of the Most Holy Place was something that looked like

22 an altar of wood. It was more than five feet high and three feet wide. Its corners, base, and sides were wood. The man said to me, "This is the table that is in the presence of the Lord."

23 Both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place had double doors.

24 Each of the doors had two pieces that would swing open.

25 Carved on the doors of the Holy Place were palm trees and creatures with wings, like those carved on the walls. And there was a wood roof over the front Temple porch.

26 There were windows and palm trees on both side walls of the porch. The side rooms of the Temple were also covered by a roof over the stairway.

1 Then the man led me north out into the outer courtyard and to the rooms across from the private area and the building.

2 These rooms on the north side were one hundred seventy-five feet long and eighty-seven and one-half feet wide.

3 There was thirty-five feet of the inner courtyard between them and the Temple. On the other side, they faced the stone pavement of the outer courtyard. The rooms were built in three stories like steps and had balconies.

4 There was a path on the north side of the rooms, which was seventeen and one-half feet wide and one hundred seventy-five feet long. Doors led into the rooms from this path.

5 The top rooms were narrower, because the balconies took more space from them. The rooms on the first and second stories of the building were wider.

6 The rooms were on three stories. They did not have pillars like the pillars of the courtyards. So the top rooms were farther back than those on the first and second stories.

7 There was a wall outside parallel to the rooms and to the outer courtyard. It ran in front of the rooms for eighty-seven and one-half feet.

8 The row of rooms along the outer courtyard was eighty-seven and one-half feet long, and the rooms that faced the Temple were about one hundred seventy-five feet long.

9 The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side so a person could enter them from the outer courtyard,

10 at the start of the wall beside the courtyard. There were rooms on the south side, which were across from the private area and the building.

11 These rooms had a path in front of them. They were like the rooms on the north with the same length and width and the same doors.

12 The doors of the south rooms were like the doors of the north rooms. There was an entrance at the open end of a path beside the wall, so a person could enter at the east end.

13 The man said to me, "The north and south rooms across from the private area are holy rooms. There the priests who go near the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings: the grain offerings, sin offerings, and the penalty offerings, because the place is holy.

14 The priests who enter the Holy Place must leave their serving clothes there before they go into the outer courtyard, because these clothes are holy. After they put on other clothes, they may go to the part of the Temple area which is for the people."

15 When the man finished measuring inside the Temple area, he brought me out through the east gateway. He measured the area all around.

16 The man measured the east side with the measuring stick; it was eight hundred seventy-five feet by the measuring stick.

17 He measured the north side; it was eight hundred seventy-five feet by the measuring stick.

18 He measured the south side; it was eight hundred seventy-five feet by the measuring stick.

19 He went around to the west side; it measured eight hundred seventy-five feet by the measuring stick.

20 So he measured the Temple area on all four sides. The Temple area had a wall all around it that was eight hundred seventy-five feet long and eight hundred seventy-five feet wide. It separated what was holy from that which was not holy.

1 Then the man led me to the outer east gate way,

2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. It sounded like the roar of rushing water, and its brightness made the earth shine.

3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when the Lord came to destroy the city and also like the vision I had seen by the Kebar River. I bowed facedown on the ground.

4 The glory of the Lord came into the Temple area through the east gateway.

5 Then the Spirit picked me up and brought me into the inner courtyard. There I saw the Lord's glory filling the Temple.

6 As the man stood at my side, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the Temple.

7 The voice from the Temple said to me, "Human, this is my throne and the place where my feet rest. I will live here among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will not make my holy name unclean again. Neither the people nor their kings will make it unclean with their sexual sins or with the dead bodies of their kings.

8 The kings made my name unclean by putting their doorway next to my doorway, and their doorpost next to my doorpost so only a wall separated me from them. When they did their acts that I hate, they made my holy name unclean, and so I destroyed them in my anger.

9 Now let them stop their sexual sins and take the dead bodies of their kings far away from me. Then I will live among them forever.

10 "Human, tell the people of Israel about the Temple so they will be ashamed of their sins. Let them think about the plan of the Temple.

11 If they are ashamed of all they have done, let them know the design of the Temple and how it is built. Show them its exits and entrances, all its designs, and also all its rules and teachings. Write the rules as they watch so they will obey all the teachings and rules about the Temple.

12 This is the teaching about the Temple: All the area around the top of the mountain is most holy. This is the teaching about the Temple.

13 "These are the measurements of the altar, using the measuring stick. The altar's gutter is twenty-one inches high and twenty-one inches wide, and its rim is about nine inches around its edge. And the altar is this tall:

14 From the ground up to the lower ledge, it measures three and one-half feet. It is twenty-one inches wide. It measures seven feet from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge and is twenty-one inches wide.

15 The place where the sacrifice is burned on the altar is seven feet high, with its four corners shaped like horns and reaching up above it.

16 It is square, twenty-one feet long and twenty-one feet wide.

17 The upper ledge is also square, twenty-four and one-half feet long and twenty-four and one-half feet wide. The rim around the altar is ten and one-half inches wide, and its gutter is twenty-one inches wide all around. Its steps are on the east side."

18 Then the man said to me, "Human, this is what the Lord God says: These are the rules for the altar. When it is built, use these rules to offer burnt offerings and to sprinkle blood on it.

19 You must give a young bull as a sin offering to the priests, the Levites who are from the family of Zadok and who come near me to serve me, says the Lord God.

20 Take some of the bull's blood and put it on the four corners of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim. This is how you will make the altar pure and ready for God's service.

21 Then take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the proper place in the Temple area, outside the Temple building.

22 "On the second day offer a male goat that has nothing wrong with it for a sin offering. The priests will make the altar pure and ready for God's service as they did with the young bull.

23 When you finish making the altar pure and ready, offer a young bull and a male sheep from the flock, which have nothing wrong with them.

24 You must offer them in the presence of the Lord, and the priests are to throw salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

25 "You must prepare a goat every day for seven days as a sin offering. Also, the priests must prepare a young bull and male sheep from the flock, which have nothing wrong with them.

26 For seven days the priests are to make the altar pure and ready for God's service. Then they will give the altar to God.

27 After these seven days, on the eighth day, the priests must offer your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, says the Lord God."

1 Then the man brought me back to the outer east gateway of the Temple area, but the gate was shut.

2 The Lord said to me, "This gate will stay shut; it will not be opened. No one may enter through it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered through it. So it must stay shut.

3 Only the ruler himself may sit in the gateway to eat a meal in the presence of the Lord. He must enter through the porch of the gateway and go out the same way."

4 Then the man brought me through the outer north gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, I saw the glory of the Lord filling the Temple of the Lord, and I bowed facedown on the ground.

5 The Lord said to me, "Human, pay attention. Use your eyes to see, and your ears to hear. See and hear everything I tell you about all the rules and teachings of the Temple of the Lord. Pay attention to the entrance to the Temple and to all the exits from the Temple area.

6 Then speak to those who refuse to obey. Say to the people of Israel, 'This is what the Lord God says: Stop doing all your acts that I hate, Israel!

7 You brought foreigners into my Holy Place who were not circumcised in the flesh and had not given themselves to serving me. You dishonored my Temple when you offered me food, fat, and blood. You broke my agreement by all the things you did that I hate.

8 You did not take care of my holy things yourselves but put foreigners in charge of my Temple.

9 This is what the Lord God says: Foreigners who are not circumcised in flesh and who do not give themselves to serving me may not enter my Temple. Not even a foreigner living among the people of Israel may enter.

10 "'But the Levites who stopped obeying me when Israel left me and who followed their idols must be punished for their sin.

11 These Levites are to be servants in my Holy Place. They may guard the gates of the Temple and serve in the Temple area. They may kill the animals for the burnt offering and the sacrifices for the people. They may stand before the people to serve them.

12 But these Levites helped the people worship their idols and caused the people of Israel to fall, so I make this promise: They will be punished for their sin, says the Lord God.

13 They will not come near me to serve as priests, nor will they come near any of my holy things or the most holy offerings. But they will be made ashamed of the things they did that I hate.

14 I will put them in charge of taking care of the Temple area, all the work that must be done in it.

15 "'But the priests who are Levites and descendants of Zadok took care of my Holy Place when Israel left me, so they may come near to serve me. They may stand in my presence to offer me the fat and blood of the animals they sacrifice, says the Lord God.

16 They are the only ones who may enter my Holy Place. Only they may come near my table to serve me and take care of the things I gave them to do.

17 "'When they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they must wear linen robes. They must not wear wool to serve at the gates of the inner courtyard or in the Temple.

18 They will wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes. They will not wear anything that makes them perspire.

19 When they go out into the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their serving clothes before they go. They must leave these clothes in the holy rooms and put on other clothes. Then they will not let their holy clothes hurt the people.

20 "'They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long but must keep the hair of their heads trimmed.

21 None of the priests may drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard.

22 The priests must not marry widows or divorced women. They may marry only virgins from the people of Israel or widows of priests.

23 They must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not holy. They must help my people know what is unclean and what is clean.

24 "'In court they will act as judges. When they judge, they will follow my teachings. They must obey my laws and my rules at all my special feasts and keep my Sabbaths holy.

25 "'They must not go near a dead person, making themselves unclean. But they are allowed to make themselves unclean if the dead person is their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a sister who has not married.

26 After a priest has been made clean again, he must wait seven days.

27 Then he may go into the inner courtyard to serve in the Temple, but he must offer a sin offering for himself, says the Lord God.

28 "'These are the rules about the priests and their property: They will have me instead of property. You will not give them any land to own in Israel; I am what they will own.

29 They will eat the grain offerings, sin offerings, and penalty offerings. Everything Israel gives to me will be theirs.

30 The best fruits of all the first harvests and all the special gifts offered to me will belong to the priests. You will also give to the priests the first part of your grain that you grind and so bring a blessing on your family.

31 The priests must not eat any bird or animal that died a natural death or one that has been torn by wild animals.

1 "'When you divide the land for the Israelite tribes by throwing lots, you must give a part of the land to belong to the Lord. It will be about seven miles long and about six miles wide; all of this land will be holy.

2 From this land, an area eight hundred seventy-five feet square will be for the Temple. There will be an open space around the Temple that is eighty-seven and one-half feet wide.

3 In the holy area you will measure a part about seven miles long and three miles wide, and in it will be the Most Holy Place.

4 This holy part of the land will be for the priests who serve in the Temple, who come near to the Lord to serve him. It will be a place for the priests' houses and for the Temple.

5 Another area about seven miles long and more than three miles wide will be for the Levites, who serve in the Temple area. It will belong to them so they will have cities in which to live.

6 "'You must give the city an area that is about one and one-half miles wide and about seven miles long, along the side of the holy area. It will belong to all the people of Israel.

7 "'The ruler will have land on both sides of the holy area and the city. On the west of the holy area, his land will reach to the Mediterranean Sea. On the east of the holy area, his land will reach to the eastern border. It will be as long as the land given to each tribe.

8 Only this land will be the ruler's property in Israel. So my rulers will not be cruel to my people anymore, but they will let each tribe in the nation of Israel have its share of the land.

9 "'This is what the Lord God says: You have gone far enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop being cruel and hurting people, and do what is right and fair. Stop forcing my people out of their homes, says the Lord God.

10 You must have honest scales, an honest dry measurement and an honest liquid measurement.

11 The dry measure and the liquid measure will be the same: The liquid measure will always be a tenth of a homer, and the ephah will always be a tenth of a homer. The measurement they follow will be the homer.

12 The shekeln will be worth twenty gerahs, and a mina will be worth sixty shekels.

13 "'This is the gift you should offer: a sixth of an ephah from every homer of wheat, and a sixth of an ephah from every homer of barley.

14 The amount of oil you are to offer is a tenth of a bath from each cor. (Ten baths make a homer and also make a cor.)

15 You should give one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel. All these are to be offered for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to remove sins so you will belong to God, says the Lord God.

16 All people in the land will give this special offering to the ruler of Israel.

17 It will be the ruler's responsibility to supply the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings. These offerings will be given at the feasts, at the New Moons, on the Sabbaths, and at all the other feasts of Israel. The ruler will supply the sin offerings, grain offerings, and fellowship offerings to pay for the sins of Israel.

18 "'This is what the Lord God says: On the first day of the first month take a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. Use it to make the Temple pure and ready for God's service.

19 The priest will take some of the blood from this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate to the inner courtyard.

20 You will do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned by accident or without knowing it. This is how you make the Temple pure and ready for God's service.

21 "'On the fourteenth day of the first month you will celebrate the Feast of Passover. It will be a feast of seven days when you eat bread made without yeast.

22 On that day the ruler must offer a bull for himself and for all the people of the land as a sin offering.

23 During the seven days of the feast he must offer seven bulls and seven male sheep that have nothing wrong with them. They will be burnt offerings to the Lord, which the ruler will offer every day of the seven days of the feast. He must also offer a male goat every day as a sin offering.

24 The ruler must give as a grain offering one-half bushel for each bull and one-half bushel for each sheep. He must give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel.

25 "'Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you celebrate the Feast of Shelters, the ruler will supply the same things for seven days: the sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the olive oil.

1 "'This is what the Lord God says: The east gate of the inner courtyard will stay shut on the six working days, but it will be opened on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon.

2 The ruler will enter from outside through the porch of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests offer the ruler's burnt offering and fellowship offering. The ruler will worship at the entrance of the gateway, and then he will go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening.

3 The people of the land will worship at the entrance of that gateway in the presence of the Lord on the Sabbaths and New Moons.

4 This is the burnt offering the ruler will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day: six male lambs that have nothing wrong with them and a male sheep that has nothing wrong with it.

5 He must give a half-bushel grain offering with the male sheep, but he may give as much grain offering with the lambs as he pleases. He must also give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain.

6 On the day of the New Moon he must offer a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. He must also offer six lambs and a male sheep that have nothing wrong with them.

7 The ruler must give a half-bushel grain offering with the bull and one-half bushel with the male sheep. With the lambs, he may give as much grain as he pleases. But he must give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain.

8 When the ruler enters, he must go in through the porch of the gateway, and he must go out the same way.

9 "'When the people of the land come into the Lord's presence at the special feasts, those who enter through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. Those who enter through the south gate must go out through the north gate. They must not return the same way they entered; everyone must go out the opposite way.

10 The ruler will go in with the people when they go in and go out with them when they go out.

11 "'At the feasts and regular times of worship one-half bushel of grain must be offered with a young bull, and one-half bushel of grain must be offered with a male sheep. But with an offering of lambs, the ruler may give as much grain as he pleases. He should give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain.

12 The ruler may give an offering as a special gift to the Lord; it may be a burnt offering or fellowship offering. When he gives it to the Lord, the inner east gate is to be opened for him. He must offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offering as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will go out, and the gate will be shut after he has left.

13 "'Every day you will give a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it for a burnt offering to the Lord. Do it every morning.

14 Also, you must offer a grain offering with the lamb every morning. For this you will give three and one-third quarts of grain and one and one-third quarts of olive oil, to make the fine flour moist, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a rule that must be kept from now on.

15 So you must always give the lamb, together with the grain offering and the olive oil, every morning as a burnt offering.

16 "'This is what the Lord God says: If the ruler gives a gift from his land to any of his sons, that land will belong to the son and then to the son's children. It is their property passed down from their family.

17 But if the ruler gives a gift from his land to any of his servants, that land will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the land will go back to the ruler. Only the ruler's sons may keep a gift of land from the ruler.

18 The ruler must not take any of the people's land, forcing them out of their land. He must give his sons some of his own land so my people will not be scattered out of their own land.'"

19 The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gateway to the priests' holy rooms that face north. There I saw a place at the west end.

20 The man said to me, "This is where the priests will boil the meat of the penalty offering and sin offering and bake the grain offering. Then they will not need to bring these holy offerings into the outer courtyard, because that would hurt the people."

21 Then the man brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me to its four corners. In each corner of the courtyard was a smaller courtyard.

22 Small courtyards were in the four corners of the courtyard. Each small courtyard was the same size, seventy feet long and fifty-two and one-half feet wide.

23 A stone wall was around each of the four small courtyards, and places for cooking were built in each of the stone walls.

24 The man said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who work in the Temple will boil the sacrifices offered by the people."

1 The man led me back to the door of the Temple, and I saw water coming out from under the doorway and flowing east. (The Temple faced east.) The water flowed down from the south side wall of the Temple and then south of the altar.

2 The man brought me out through the outer north gate and led me around outside to the outer east gate. I found the water coming out on the south side of the gate.

3 The man went toward the east with a line in his hand and measured about one-third of a mile. Then he led me through water that came up to my ankles.

4 The man measured about one-third of a mile again and led me through water that came up to my knees. Then he measured about one-third of a mile again and led me through water up to my waist.

5 The man measured about one-third of a mile again, but it was now a river that I could not cross. The water had risen too high; it was deep enough for swimming; it was a river that no one could cross.

6 The man asked me, "Human, do you see this?" Then the man led me back to the bank of the river.

7 As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river.

8 The man said to me, "This water will flow toward the eastern areas and go down into the Jordan Valley. When it enters the Dead Sea, it will become fresh.

9 Everywhere the river goes, there will be many fish. Wherever this water goes the Dead Sea will become fresh, and so where the river goes there will be many living things.

10 Fishermen will stand by the Dead Sea. From En Gedi all the way to En Eglaim there will be places to spread fishing nets. There will be many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea, as many as in the Mediterranean Sea.

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

12 All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both banks of the river, and their leaves will not dry and die. The trees will have fruit every month, because the water for them comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be used for food, and their leaves for medicine."

13 This is what the Lord God says: "These are the borders of the land to be divided among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two parts of land.

14 You will divide the land equally. I promised to give it to your ancestors, so this land will belong to you as family property.

15 "This will be the border line of the land: "On the north side it will start at the Mediterranean Sea. It will go through Hethlon, toward Lebo Hamath and on to the towns of Zedad,

16 Berothah, and Sibraim on the border between Damascus and Hamath. Then it will go on to the town of Hazer Hatticon on the border of the country of Hauran.

17 So the border line will go from the Mediterranean Sea east to the town of Hazar Enan, where the land belonging to Damascus and Hamath lies on the north side. This will be the north side of the land.

18 "On the east side the border runs south from a point between Hauran and Damascus. It will go along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel and will continue to the town of Tamar on the Dead Sea. This will be the east side of the land.

19 "On the south side the border line will go east from Tamar all the way to the waters of Meribah Kadesh. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the south side of the land.

20 "On the west side the Mediterranean Sea will be the border line up to a place across from Lebo Hamath. This will be the west side of your land.

21 "You will divide this land among the tribes of Israel.

22 You will divide it as family property for yourselves and for the foreigners who live and have children among you. You are to treat these foreigners the same as people born in Israel; they are to share the land with the tribes of Israel.

23 In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will give him some land," says the Lord God.

1 "These are the areas of the tribes named here: Dan will have one share at the northern border. It will go from the sea through Hethlon to Lebo Hamath, all the way to Hazar Enan, where Damascus lies to the north. It will stop there next to Hamath. This will be Dan's northern border from the east side to the Mediterranean Sea on the west side.

2 "South of Dan's border, Asher will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

3 "South of Asher's border, Naphtali will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

4 "South of Naphtali's border, Manasseh will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

5 "South of Manasseh's border, Ephraim will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

6 "South of Ephraim's border, Reuben will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

7 "South of Reuben's border, Judah will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

8 "South of Judah's border will be the holy area which you are to give. It will be about seven miles wide and as long and wide as one of the tribes' shares. It will run from the east side to the west side. The Temple will be in the middle of this area.

9 "The share which you will give the Lord will be about seven miles long and three miles wide.

10 The holy area will be divided among these people. The priests will have land about seven miles long on the north and south sides, and three miles wide on the west and east sides. The Temple of the Lord will be in the middle of it.

11 This land is for the priests who are given the holy duty of serving the Lord. They are the descendants of Zadok who did my work and did not leave me when Israel and the Levites left me.

12 They will have as their share a very holy part of the holy portion of the land. It will be next to the land of the Levites.

13 "Alongside the land for the priests, the Levites will have a share about seven miles long and three miles wide; its full length will be about seven miles and its full width about three miles.

14 The Levites are not to sell or trade any of this land. They are not to let anyone else own any of this best part of the land, because it belongs to the Lord.

15 "The rest of the area will be about one and one-half miles wide and seven miles long. It will not be holy but will belong to the city and be used for homes and pastures. The city will be in the middle of it.

16 These are the city's measurements: the north side will be about one mile, the south side about one mile, the east side about one mile, and the west side about one mile.

17 The city's land for pastures will be about four hundred thirty-seven feet on the north, four hundred thirty-seven feet on the south, four hundred thirty-seven feet on the east, and four hundred thirty-seven feet on the west.

18 Along the long side of the holy area there will be left three miles on the east and three miles on the west. It will be used to grow food for the city workers.

19 The city workers from all the tribes of Israel will farm this land.

20 This whole area will be square, seven miles by seven miles. You shall give to the Lord the holy share along with the city property.

21 "Land that is left over on both sides of the holy area and city property will belong to the ruler. That land will extend east of the holy area to the eastern border and west of it to the Mediterranean Sea. Both of these areas run the length of the lands of the tribes, and they belong to the ruler. The holy area with the Holy Place of the Temple will be in the middle.

22 The Levites' land and the city property will be in the middle of the lands belonging to the ruler. Those lands will be between Judah's border and Benjamin's border.

23 "Here is what the rest of the tribes will receive: Benjamin will have one share. It will go from the east side to the Mediterranean Sea on the west side.

24 "South of Benjamin's land, Simeon will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

25 "South of Simeon's land, Issachar will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

26 "South of Issachar's land, Zebulun will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

27 "South of Zebulun's land, Gad will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

28 "The southern border of Gad's land will go east from Tamar on the Dead Sea to the waters of Meribah Kadesh. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

29 "This is the land you will divide among the tribes of Israel to be their shares," says the Lord God.

30 "These will be the outside borders of the city: The north side will measure more than one mile.

31 There will be three gates facing north: Reuben's Gate, Judah's Gate, and Levi's Gate, named for the tribes of Israel.

32 "The east side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing east: Joseph's Gate, Benjamin's Gate, and Dan's Gate.

33 "The south side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing south: Simeon's Gate, Issachar's Gate, and Zebulun's Gate.

34 "The west side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing west: Gad's Gate, Asher's Gate, and Naphtali's Gate.

35 "The city will measure about six miles around. From then on the name of the city will be The Lord Is There."

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