EZEKIEL
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Maps
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the
fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the
heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month
(it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the LORD
came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the
river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was on him there. 4 As I looked, a stormy
wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire
flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like
gleaming amber. 5 In the middle of it was something like four living creatures.
This was their appearance: they were of human form. 6 Each had four faces, and
each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their
feet were like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished
bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the
four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another;
each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved. 10 As for the
appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a
lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an
eagle; 11 such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each
creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two
covered their bodies. 12 Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would
go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 In the middle of the living
creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like
torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and
lightning issued from the fire. 14 The living creatures darted to and fro, like
a flash of lightning. 15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on
the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. 16 As
for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was
like the gleaming of beryl; and the four had the same form, their construction
being something like a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they moved, they moved in
any of the four directions without veering as they moved. 18 Their rims were
tall and awesome, for the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19 When
the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them; and when the living
creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go,
they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living
creatures was in the wheels. 21 When they moved, the others moved; when they
stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose
along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 22
Over the heads of the living creatures there was something like a dome, shining
like crystal, spread out above their heads. 23 Under the dome their wings were
stretched out straight, one toward another; and each of the creatures had two
wings covering its body. 24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings
like the sound of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of
tumult like the sound of an army; when they stopped, they let down their wings.
25 And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads; when they
stopped, they let down their wings. 26 And above the dome over their heads there
was something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the
likeness of a throne was something that seemed like a human form. 27 Upward from
what appeared like the loins I saw something like gleaming amber, something that
looked like fire enclosed all around; and downward from what looked like the
loins I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a splendor all
around. 28 Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of
the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of
the LORD. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone
speaking.
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He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak
with you. 2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my
feet; and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you
to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The
descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall
say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD." 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear
(for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet
among them. 6 And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid
of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among
scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their
looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak my words to them,
whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house. 8 But you,
mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house;
open your mouth and eat what I give you. 9 I looked, and a hand was stretched
out to me, and a written scroll was in it. 10 He spread it before me; it had
writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of
lamentation and mourning and woe.
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He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this
scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he
gave me the scroll to eat. 3 He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give
you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as
sweet as honey. 4 He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my
very words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and
difficult language, but to the house of Israel-- 6 not to many peoples of
obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand.
Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of
Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me; because
all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 See, I have
made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their
foreheads. 9 Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your
forehead; do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a
rebellious house. 10 He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to
you receive in your heart and hear with your ears; 11 then go to the exiles, to
your people, and speak to them. Say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD"; whether
they hear or refuse to hear. 12 Then the spirit lifted me up, and as the glory
of the LORD rose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of loud rumbling;
13 it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one
another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a loud
rumbling. 14 The spirit lifted me up and bore me away; I went in bitterness in
the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. 15 I came to
the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the river Chebar. And I sat there among
them, stunned, for seven days. 16 At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD
came to me: 17 Mortal, I have made you a sentinel for the house of Israel;
whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18
If I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," and you give them no warning, or
speak to warn the wicked from their wicked way, in order to save their life,
those wicked persons shall die for their iniquity; but their blood I will
require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and they do not turn from
their wickedness, or from their wicked way, they shall die for their iniquity;
but you will have saved your life. 20 Again, if the righteous turn from their
righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they
shall die; because you have not warned them, they shall die for their sin, and
their righteous deeds that they have done shall not be remembered; but their
blood I will require at your hand. 21 If, however, you warn the righteous not to
sin, and they do not sin, they shall surely live, because they took warning; and
you will have saved your life. 22 Then the hand of the LORD was upon me there;
and he said to me, Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with
you. 23 So I rose up and went out into the valley; and the glory of the LORD
stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell on
my face. 24 The spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with
me and said to me: Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 As for you, mortal,
cords shall be placed on you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you
cannot go out among the people; 26 and I will make your tongue cling to the roof
of your mouth, so that you shall be speechless and unable to reprove them; for
they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your
mouth, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD"; let those who will
hear, hear; and let those who refuse to hear, refuse; for they are a rebellious
house.
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And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it
portray a city, Jerusalem; 2 and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege
wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and
plant battering rams against it all around. 3 Then take an iron plate and place
it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it
be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the
house of Israel. 4 Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the
house of Israel upon it; you shall bear their punishment for the number of the
days that you lie there. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred
ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment; and so you
shall bear the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed
these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the
punishment of the house of Judah; forty days I assign you, one day for each
year. 7 You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and with your arm
bared you shall prophesy against it. 8 See, I am putting cords on you so that
you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of
your siege. 9 And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and
spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread for yourself. During the number
of days that you lie on your side, three hundred ninety days, you shall eat it.
10 The food that you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; at fixed times
you shall eat it. 11 And you shall drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin;
at fixed times you shall drink. 12 You shall eat it as a barley-cake, baking it
in their sight on human dung. 13 The LORD said, "Thus shall the people of Israel
eat their bread, unclean, among the nations to which I will drive them." 14 Then
I said, "Ah Lord GOD! I have never defiled myself; from my youth up until now I
have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has carrion
flesh come into my mouth." 15 Then he said to me, "See, I will let you have
cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread." 16 Then
he said to me, Mortal, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they
shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by
measure and in dismay. 17 Lacking bread and water, they will look at one another
in dismay, and waste away under their punishment.
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And you, O mortal, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber's razor
and run it over your head and your beard; then take balances for weighing, and
divide the hair. 2 One third of the hair you shall burn in the fire inside the
city, when the days of the siege are completed; one third you shall take and
strike with the sword all around the city; and one third you shall scatter to
the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 Then you shall take from
these a small number, and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 From these,
again, you shall take some, throw them into the fire and burn them up; from
there a fire will come out against all the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord
GOD: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations, with
countries all around her. 6 But she has rebelled against my ordinances and my
statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries all around
her, rejecting my ordinances and not following my statutes. 7 Therefore thus
says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all
around you, and have not followed my statutes or kept my ordinances, but have
acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are all around you; 8
therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I, I myself, am coming against you; I will
execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all
your abominations, I will do to you what I have never yet done, and the like of
which I will never do again. 10 Surely, parents shall eat their children in your
midst, and children shall eat their parents; I will execute judgments on you,
and any of you who survive I will scatter to every wind. 11 Therefore, as I
live, says the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all
your detestable things and with all your abominations--therefore I will cut you
down; my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 One third of you shall
die of pestilence or be consumed by famine among you; one third shall fall by
the sword around you; and one third I will scatter to every wind and will
unsheathe the sword after them. 13 My anger shall spend itself, and I will vent
my fury on them and satisfy myself; and they shall know that I, the LORD, have
spoken in my jealousy, when I spend my fury on them. 14 Moreover I will make you
a desolation and an object of mocking among the nations around you, in the sight
of all that pass by. 15 You shall be a mockery and a taunt, a warning and a
horror, to the nations around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and
fury, and with furious punishments--I, the LORD, have spoken-- 16 when I loose
against you my deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will let
loose to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you, and break
your staff of bread. 17 I will send famine and wild animals against you, and
they will rob you of your children; pestilence and bloodshed shall pass through
you; and I will bring the sword upon you. I, the LORD, have spoken.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 O mortal, set your face toward
the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, You mountains of
Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains
and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I, I myself will bring a sword
upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars shall become
desolate, and your incense stands shall be broken; and I will throw down your
slain in front of your idols. 5 I will lay the corpses of the people of Israel
in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6
Wherever you live, your towns shall be waste and your high places ruined, so
that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols broken and destroyed, your
incense stands cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 The slain shall fall in
your midst; then you shall know that I am the LORD. 8 But I will spare some.
Some of you shall escape the sword among the nations and be scattered through
the countries. 9 Those of you who escape shall remember me among the nations
where they are carried captive, how I was crushed by their wanton heart that
turned away from me, and their wanton eyes that turned after their idols. Then
they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have
committed, for all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the
LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this disaster upon them. 11 Thus says
the Lord GOD: Clap your hands and stamp your foot, and say, Alas for all the
vile abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by
famine, and by pestilence. 12 Those far off shall die of pestilence; those
nearby shall fall by the sword; and any who are left and are spared shall die of
famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them. 13 And you shall know that I am the
LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high
hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy
oak, wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols. 14 I will stretch
out my hand against them, and make the land desolate and waste, throughout all
their settlements, from the wilderness to Riblah. Then they shall know that I am
the LORD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 You, O mortal, thus says the
Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners
of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, I will let loose my anger upon you; I
will judge you according to your ways, I will punish you for all your
abominations. 4 My eye will not spare you, I will have no pity. I will punish
you for your ways, while your abominations are among you. Then you shall know
that I am the LORD. 5 Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! See, it
comes. 6 An end has come, the end has come. It has awakened against you; see, it
comes! 7 Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come,
the day is near-- of tumult, not of reveling on the mountains. 8 Soon now I will
pour out my wrath upon you; I will spend my anger against you. I will judge you
according to your ways, and punish you for all your abominations. 9 My eye will
not spare; I will have no pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while
your abominations are among you. Then you shall know that it is I the LORD who
strike. 10 See, the day! See, it comes! Your doom has gone out. The rod has
blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.
None of them shall remain, not their abundance, not their wealth; no
pre-eminence among them. 12 The time has come, the day draws near; let not the
buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude. 13
For the sellers shall not return to what has been sold as long as they remain
alive. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not be revoked.
Because of their iniquity, they cannot maintain their lives. 14 They have blown
the horn and made everything ready; but no one goes to battle, for my wrath is
upon all their multitude. 15 The sword is outside, pestilence and famine are
inside; those in the field die by the sword; those in the city--famine and
pestilence devour them. 16 If any survivors escape, they shall be found on the
mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning over their iniquity. 17
All hands shall grow feeble, all knees turn to water. 18 They shall put on
sackcloth, horror shall cover them. Shame shall be on all faces, baldness on all
their heads. 19 They shall fling their silver into the streets, their gold shall
be treated as unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the
wrath of the LORD. They shall not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs
with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 From their
beautiful ornament, in which they took pride, they made their abominable images,
their detestable things; therefore I will make of it an unclean thing to them.
21 I will hand it over to strangers as booty, to the wicked of the earth as
plunder; they shall profane it. 22 I will avert my face from them, so that they
may profane my treasured place; the violent shall enter it, they shall profane
it. 23 Make a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes; the city is full of
violence. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their
houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their holy places
shall be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall
be none. 26 Disaster comes upon disaster, rumor follows rumor; they shall keep
seeking a vision from the prophet; instruction shall perish from the priest, and
counsel from the elders. 27 The king shall mourn, the prince shall be wrapped in
despair, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble. According to
their way I will deal with them; according to their own judgments I will judge
them. And they shall know that I am the LORD.
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In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the
month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the
hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2 I looked, and there was a figure that
looked like a human being; below what appeared to be its loins it was fire, and
above the loins it was like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming amber. 3
It stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the
spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God
to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces
north, to the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And
the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I had seen in the
valley. 5 Then God said to me, "O mortal, lift up your eyes now in the direction
of the north." So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the
altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. 6 He said to me,
"Mortal, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house
of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? Yet you will
see still greater abominations." 7 And he brought me to the entrance of the
court; I looked, and there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me,
"Mortal, dig through the wall"; and when I dug through the wall, there was an
entrance. 9 He said to me, "Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are
committing here." 10 So I went in and looked; there, portrayed on the wall all
around, were all kinds of creeping things, and loathsome animals, and all the
idols of the house of Israel. 11 Before them stood seventy of the elders of the
house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his
censer in his hand, and the fragrant cloud of incense was ascending. 12 Then he
said to me, "Mortal, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are
doing in the dark, each in his room of images? For they say, 'The LORD does not
see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.'" 13 He said also to me, "You will see
still greater abominations that they are committing." 14 Then he brought me to
the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD; women were sitting
there weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, O mortal?
You will see still greater abominations than these." 16 And he brought me into
the inner court of the house of the LORD; there, at the entrance of the temple
of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with
their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east,
prostrating themselves to the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, "Have
you seen this, O mortal? Is it not bad enough that the house of Judah commits
the abominations done here? Must they fill the land with violence, and provoke
my anger still further? See, they are putting the branch to their nose! 18
Therefore I will act in wrath; my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; and
though they cry in my hearing with a loud voice, I will not listen to them."
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Then he cried in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, "Draw
near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his
hand." 2 And six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces
north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand; among them was a man
clothed in linen, with a writing case at his side. They went in and stood beside
the bronze altar. 3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the
cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. The LORD called to the
man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side; 4 and said to him,
"Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of
those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it." 5
To the others he said in my hearing, "Pass through the city after him, and kill;
your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Cut down old men, young
men and young women, little children and women, but touch no one who has the
mark. And begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in
front of the house. 7 Then he said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the
courts with the slain. Go!" So they went out and killed in the city. 8 While
they were killing, and I was left alone, I fell prostrate on my face and cried
out, "Ah Lord GOD! will you destroy all who remain of Israel as you pour out
your wrath upon Jerusalem?" 9 He said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel
and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city full
of perversity; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does
not see.' 10 As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will
bring down their deeds upon their heads." 11 Then the man clothed in linen, with
the writing case at his side, brought back word, saying, "I have done as you
commanded me."
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Then I looked, and above the dome that was over the heads of the
cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in form resembling
a throne. 2 He said to the man clothed in linen, "Go within the wheelwork
underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from among the
cherubim, and scatter them over the city." He went in as I looked on. 3 Now the
cherubim were standing on the south side of the house when the man went in; and
a cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the LORD rose up from the
cherub to the threshold of the house; the house was filled with the cloud, and
the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the LORD. 5 The sound of
the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of
God Almighty when he speaks. 6 When he commanded the man clothed in linen, "Take
fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim," he went in and stood
beside a wheel. 7 And a cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to
the fire that was among the cherubim, took some of it and put it into the hands
of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared
to have the form of a human hand under their wings. 9 I looked, and there were
four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub; and the appearance of
the wheels was like gleaming beryl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four
looked alike, something like a wheel within a wheel. 11 When they moved, they
moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved; but in
whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without veering as
they moved. 12 Their entire body, their rims, their spokes, their wings, and the
wheels--the wheels of the four of them--were full of eyes all around. 13 As for
the wheels, they were called in my hearing "the wheelwork." 14 Each one had four
faces: the first face was that of the cherub, the second face was that of a
human being, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle. 15 The
cherubim rose up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the river
Chebar. 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; and when the
cherubim lifted up their wings to rise up from the earth, the wheels at their
side did not veer. 17 When they stopped, the others stopped, and when they rose
up, the others rose up with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in
them. 18 Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house and
stopped above the cherubim. 19 The cherubim lifted up their wings and rose up
from the earth in my sight as they went out with the wheels beside them. They
stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD; and the glory
of the God of Israel was above them. 20 These were the living creatures that I
saw underneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were
cherubim. 21 Each had four faces, each four wings, and underneath their wings
something like human hands. 22 As for what their faces were like, they were the
same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one moved
straight ahead.
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The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the
house of the LORD, which faces east. There, at the entrance of the gateway, were
twenty-five men; among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of
Benaiah, officials of the people. 2 He said to me, "Mortal, these are the men
who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 they say, 'The
time is not near to build houses; this city is the pot, and we are the meat.' 4
Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O mortal." 5 Then the spirit of the
LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, "Say, Thus says the LORD: This is what you
think, O house of Israel; I know the things that come into your mind. 6 You have
killed many in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. 7
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: The slain whom you have placed within it are
the meat, and this city is the pot; but you shall be taken out of it. 8 You have
feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord GOD. 9 I
will take you out of it and give you over to the hands of foreigners, and
execute judgments upon you. 10 You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at
the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD. 11 This city shall
not be your pot, and you shall not be the meat inside it; I will judge you at
the border of Israel. 12 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, whose statutes
you have not followed, and whose ordinances you have not kept, but you have
acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are around you." 13 Now,
while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my
face, cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord GOD! will you make a full end
of the remnant of Israel?" 14 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 15 Mortal,
your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all
of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "They have
gone far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession." 16 Therefore
say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far away among the nations,
and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to
them for a little while in the countries where they have gone. 17 Therefore say:
Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out
of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of
Israel. 18 When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable
things and all its abominations. 19 I will give them one heart, and put a new
spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give
them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may follow my statutes and keep my
ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
21 But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their
abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord GOD.
22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the
glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 And the glory of the LORD ascended
from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city. 24
The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into
Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. 25 And I told
the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, you are living in the
midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears
to hear but do not hear; 3 for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, mortal,
prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in their
sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their
sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. 4 You
shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile; and
you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who go into
exile. 5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the baggage through it.
6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage on your shoulder, and carry it out
in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you may not see the land; for I
have made you a sign for the house of Israel. 7 I did just as I was commanded. I
brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug
through the wall with my own hands; I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on
my shoulder in their sight. 8 In the morning the word of the LORD came to me: 9
Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, "What
are you doing?" 10 Say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD: This oracle concerns
the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel in it." 11 Say, "I am a sign
for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile,
into captivity." 12 And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on
his shoulder in the dark, and shall go out; he shall dig through the wall and
carry it through; he shall cover his face, so that he may not see the land with
his eyes. 13 I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare;
and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see
it; and he shall die there. 14 I will scatter to every wind all who are around
him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will unsheathe the sword behind them.
15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the
nations and scatter them through the countries. 16 But I will let a few of them
escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all
their abominations among the nations where they go; then they shall know that I
am the LORD. 17 The word of the LORD came to me: 18 Mortal, eat your bread with
quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; 19 and say to
the people of the land, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of
Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness,
and drink their water in dismay, because their land shall be stripped of all it
contains, on account of the violence of all those who live in it. 20 The
inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation;
and you shall know that I am the LORD. 21 The word of the LORD came to me: 22
Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel, which says, "The
days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing"? 23 Tell them therefore,
"Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use
it no more as a proverb in Israel." But say to them, The days are near, and the
fulfillment of every vision. 24 For there shall no longer be any false vision or
flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 But I the LORD will speak
the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed;
but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfill it, says
the Lord GOD. 26 The word of the LORD came to me: 27 Mortal, the house of Israel
is saying, "The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for
distant times." 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my
words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled,
says the Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the
prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their
own imagination: "Hear the word of the LORD!" 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Alas for
the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4
Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone
up into the breaches, or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it
might stand in battle on the day of the LORD. 6 They have envisioned falsehood
and lying divination; they say, "Says the LORD," when the LORD has not sent
them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! 7 Have you not seen a
false vision or uttered a lying divination, when you have said, "Says the LORD,"
even though I did not speak? 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you
have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord GOD.
9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying
divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in
the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel;
and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Because, in truth, because they
have misled my people, saying, "Peace," when there is no peace; and because,
when the people build a wall, these prophets smear whitewash on it. 11 Say to
those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of
rain, great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out. 12 When the
wall falls, will it not be said to you, "Where is the whitewash you smeared on
it?" 13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind
break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain, and hailstones in
wrath to destroy it. 14 I will break down the wall that you have smeared with
whitewash, and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare;
when it falls, you shall perish within it; and you shall know that I am the
LORD. 15 Thus I will spend my wrath upon the wall, and upon those who have
smeared it with whitewash; and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those
who smeared it-- 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem
and saw visions of peace for it, when there was no peace, says the Lord GOD. 17
As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people, who
prophesy out of their own imagination; prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists, and make veils
for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for human lives! Will you
hunt down lives among my people, and maintain your own lives? 19 You have
profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread,
putting to death persons who should not die and keeping alive persons who should
not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies. 20 Therefore thus says
the Lord GOD: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives; I will tear
them from your arms, and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down
like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils, and save my people from your hands;
they shall no longer be prey in your hands; and you shall know that I am the
LORD. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have
not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their
wicked way and save their lives; 23 therefore you shall no longer see false
visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you
will know that I am the LORD.
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Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. 2
And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 Mortal, these men have taken their idols
into their hearts, and placed their iniquity as a stumbling block before them;
shall I let myself be consulted by them? 4 Therefore speak to them, and say to
them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any of those of the house of Israel who take their
idols into their hearts and place their iniquity as a stumbling block before
them, and yet come to the prophet--I the LORD will answer those who come with
the multitude of their idols, 5 in order that I may take hold of the hearts of
the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols. 6
Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn
away from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For
any of those of the house of Israel, or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who
separate themselves from me, taking their idols into their hearts and placing
their iniquity as a stumbling block before them, and yet come to a prophet to
inquire of me by him, I the LORD will answer them myself. 8 I will set my face
against them; I will make them a sign and a byword and cut them off from the
midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the LORD. 9 If a prophet is
deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will
stretch out my hand against him, and will destroy him from the midst of my
people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their punishment--the punishment of the
inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same-- 11 so that the
house of Israel may no longer go astray from me, nor defile themselves any more
with all their transgressions. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their
God, says the Lord GOD. 12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 Mortal, when a
land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against
it, and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it
human beings and animals, 14 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job, these three, were in
it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord
GOD. 15 If I send wild animals through the land to ravage it, so that it is made
desolate, and no one may pass through because of the animals; 16 even if these
three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would save neither sons
nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. 17 Or
if I bring a sword upon that land and say, 'Let a sword pass through the land,'
and I cut off human beings and animals from it; 18 though these three men were
in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would save neither sons nor daughters,
but they alone would be saved. 19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and
pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off humans and animals from it; 20
even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they
would save neither son nor daughter; they would save only their own lives by
their righteousness. 21 For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send
upon Jerusalem my four deadly acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild animals, and
pestilence, to cut off humans and animals from it! 22 Yet, survivors shall be
left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; they will come out to
you. When you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the evil
that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23 They
shall console you, when you see their ways and their deeds; and you shall know
that it was not without cause that I did all that I have done in it, says the
Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 O mortal, how does the wood
of the vine surpass all other wood-- the vine branch that is among the trees of
the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make anything? Does one take a peg from
it on which to hang any object? 4 It is put in the fire for fuel; when the fire
has consumed both ends of it and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for
anything? 5 When it was whole it was used for nothing; how much less--when the
fire has consumed it, and it is charred-- can it ever be used for anything! 6
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of
the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them; although they
escape from the fire, the fire shall still consume them; and you shall know that
I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land
desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, says the Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, make known to
Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your
origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an
Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your birth, on the day you were
born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you,
nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of
these things for you out of compassion for you; but you were thrown out in the
open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. 6 I passed by you,
and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, I said to
you, "Live! 7 and grow up like a plant of the field." You grew up and became
tall and arrived at full womanhood; your breasts were formed, and your hair had
grown; yet you were naked and bare. 8 I passed by you again and looked on you;
you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you, and
covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with
you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and
washed off the blood from you, and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you with
embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen
and covered you with rich fabric. 11 I adorned you with ornaments: I put
bracelets on your arms, a chain on your neck, 12 a ring on your nose, earrings
in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. 13 You were adorned with
gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, rich fabric, and
embroidered cloth. You had choice flour and honey and oil for food. You grew
exceedingly beautiful, fit to be a queen. 14 Your fame spread among the nations
on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor that I had
bestowed on you, says the Lord GOD. 15 But you trusted in your beauty, and
played the whore because of your fame, and lavished your whorings on any
passer-by. 16 You took some of your garments, and made for yourself colorful
shrines, and on them played the whore; nothing like this has ever been or ever
shall be. 17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and my silver that I
had given you, and made for yourself male images, and with them played the
whore; 18 and you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil
and my incense before them. 19 Also my bread that I gave you--I fed you with
choice flour and oil and honey--you set it before them as a pleasing odor; and
so it was, says the Lord GOD. 20 You took your sons and your daughters, whom you
had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. As if your
whorings were not enough! 21 You slaughtered my children and delivered them up
as an offering to them. 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you
did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, flailing
about in your blood. 23 After all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the
Lord GOD), 24 you built yourself a platform and made yourself a lofty place in
every square; 25 at the head of every street you built your lofty place and
prostituted your beauty, offering yourself to every passer-by, and multiplying
your whoring. 26 You played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful
neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger. 27 Therefore I
stretched out my hand against you, reduced your rations, and gave you up to the
will of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your
lewd behavior. 28 You played the whore with the Assyrians, because you were
insatiable; you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29
You multiplied your whoring with Chaldea, the land of merchants; and even with
this you were not satisfied. 30 How sick is your heart, says the Lord GOD, that
you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen whore; 31 building your platform
at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square! Yet
you were not like a whore, because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who
receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Gifts are given to all whores; but
you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from all
around for your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your
whorings: no one solicited you to play the whore; and you gave payment, while no
payment was given to you; you were different. 35 Therefore, O whore, hear the
word of the LORD: 36 Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out
and your nakedness uncovered in your whoring with your lovers, and because of
all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you
gave to them, 37 therefore, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you took
pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated; I will gather them
against you from all around, and will uncover your nakedness to them, so that
they may see all your nakedness. 38 I will judge you as women who commit
adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring blood upon you in wrath and
jealousy. 39 I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your
platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes
and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare. 40 They shall
bring up a mob against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with
their swords. 41 They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the
sight of many women; I will stop you from playing the whore, and you shall also
make no more payments. 42 So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy
shall turn away from you; I will be calm, and will be angry no longer. 43
Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with
all these things; therefore, I have returned your deeds upon your head, says the
Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness beyond all your abominations? 44 See,
everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you, "Like mother, like
daughter." 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and
her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands
and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46
Your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you;
and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her
daughters. 47 You not only followed their ways, and acted according to their
abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all
your ways. 48 As I live, says the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters
have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 This was the guilt of your
sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous
ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty, and did
abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it. 51 Samaria
has not committed half your sins; you have committed more abominations than
they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that
you have committed. 52 Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have brought about
for your sisters a more favorable judgment; because of your sins in which you
acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be
ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear
righteous. 53 I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her
daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your
own fortunes along with theirs, 54 in order that you may bear your disgrace and
be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. 55 As for
your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state,
Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your
daughters shall return to your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a
byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was
uncovered? Now you are a mockery to the daughters of Aram and all her neighbors,
and to the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you. 58
You must bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, says the LORD.
59 Yes, thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who
have despised the oath, breaking the covenant; 60 yet I will remember my
covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an
everlasting covenant. 61 Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I
take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as
daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. 62 I will establish my
covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, 63 in order that you
may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your
shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 O mortal, propound a riddle,
and speak an allegory to the house of Israel. 3 Say: Thus says the Lord GOD: A
great eagle, with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors,
came to the Lebanon. He took the top of the cedar, 4 broke off its topmost
shoot; He carried it to a land of trade, set it in a city of merchants. 5 Then
he took a seed from the land, placed it in fertile soil; A plant by abundant
waters, he set it like a willow twig. 6 It sprouted and became a vine spreading
out, but low; Its branches turned toward him, its roots remained where it stood.
So it became a vine; it brought forth branches, put forth foliage. 7 There was
another great eagle, with great wings and much plumage. And see! This vine
stretched out its roots toward him; It shot out its branches toward him, so that
he might water it. From the bed where it was planted 8 it was transplanted to
good soil by abundant waters, so that it might produce branches and bear fruit
and become a noble vine. 9 Say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Will it prosper? Will he
not pull up its roots, cause its fruit to rot and wither, its fresh sprouting
leaves to fade? No strong arm or mighty army will be needed to pull it from its
roots. 10 When it is transplanted, will it thrive? When the east wind strikes
it, will it not utterly wither, wither on the bed where it grew? 11 Then the
word of the LORD came to me: 12 Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know
what these things mean? Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took
its king and its officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon. 13 He
took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under
oath (he had taken away the chief men of the land), 14 so that the kingdom might
be humble and not lift itself up, and that by keeping his covenant it might
stand. 15 But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, in order
that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one
escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape? 16 As I
live, says the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king resides who made him
king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke--in Babylon
he shall die. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help
him in war, when ramps are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.
18 Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand
and yet did all these things, he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus says the
Lord GOD: As I live, I will surely return upon his head my oath that he
despised, and my covenant that he broke. 20 I will spread my net over him, and
he shall be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and enter into
judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me. 21 All the
pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered
to every wind; and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken. 22 Thus says
the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will
set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I
myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain height of
Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and
become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its
branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. 24 All the trees of the field
shall know that I am the LORD. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low
tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the LORD have
spoken; I will accomplish it.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 What do you mean by repeating
this proverb concerning the land of Israel, "The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge"? 3 As I live, says the Lord GOD, this
proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Know that all lives are mine;
the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the
person who sins that shall die. 5 If a man is righteous and does what is lawful
and right-- 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the
idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a
woman during her menstrual period, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to
the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and
covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not take advance or accrued interest,
withholds his hand from iniquity, executes true justice between contending
parties, 9 follows my statutes, and is careful to observe my ordinances, acting
faithfully--such a one is righteous; he shall surely live, says the Lord GOD. 10
If he has a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, 11 who does any of these
things (though his father does none of them), who eats upon the mountains,
defiles his neighbor's wife, 12 oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery,
does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits
abomination, 13 takes advance or accrued interest; shall he then live? He shall
not. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely die; his blood
shall be upon himself. 14 But if this man has a son who sees all the sins that
his father has done, considers, and does not do likewise, 15 who does not eat
upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does
not defile his neighbor's wife, 16 does not wrong anyone, exacts no pledge,
commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with
a garment, 17 withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no advance or accrued
interest, observes my ordinances, and follows my statutes; he shall not die for
his father's iniquity; he shall surely live. 18 As for his father, because he
practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his
people, he dies for his iniquity. 19 Yet you say, "Why should not the son suffer
for the iniquity of the father?" When the son has done what is lawful and right,
and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. 20 The
person who sins shall die. A child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a
parent, nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child; the righteousness of
the righteous shall be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be his
own. 21 But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed
and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely
live; they shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that they have committed
shall be remembered against them; for the righteousness that they have done they
shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord
GOD, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? 24 But when
the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the
same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the
righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered; for the treachery of
which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die. 25 Yet
you say, "The way of the Lord is unfair." Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way
unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? 26 When the righteous turn away
from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the
iniquity that they have committed they shall die. 27 Again, when the wicked turn
away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right,
they shall save their life. 28 Because they considered and turned away from all
the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall
not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is unfair." O
house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? 30
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your
ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise
iniquity will be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that
you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!
Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of
anyone, says the Lord GOD. Turn, then, and live.
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As for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2
and say: What a lioness was your mother among lions! She lay down among young
lions, rearing her cubs. 3 She raised up one of her cubs; he became a young
lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured humans. 4 The nations sounded an
alarm against him; he was caught in their pit; and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt. 5 When she saw that she was thwarted, that her hope was
lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. 6 He prowled among
the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured
people. 7 And he ravaged their strongholds, and laid waste their towns; the land
was appalled, and all in it, at the sound of his roaring. 8 The nations set upon
him from the provinces all around; they spread their net over him; he was caught
in their pit. 9 With hooks they put him in a cage, and brought him to the king
of Babylon; they brought him into custody, so that his voice should be heard no
more on the mountains of Israel. 10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard
transplanted by the water, fruitful and full of branches from abundant water. 11
Its strongest stem became a ruler's scepter; it towered aloft among the thick
boughs; it stood out in its height with its mass of branches. 12 But it was
plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried it up; its
fruit was stripped off, its strong stem was withered; the fire consumed it. 13
Now it is transplanted into the wilderness, into a dry and thirsty land. 14 And
fire has gone out from its stem, has consumed its branches and fruit, so that
there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. This is a
lamentation, and it is used as a lamentation.
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In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the
month, certain elders of Israel came to consult the LORD, and sat down before
me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 Mortal, speak to the elders of
Israel, and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: Why are you coming? To consult
me? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you. 4 Will you
judge them, mortal, will you judge them? Then let them know the abominations of
their ancestors, 5 and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I
chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob--making myself
known to them in the land of Egypt--I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your
God. 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of
Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and
honey, the most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, Cast away the
detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile
yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. 8 But they rebelled
against me and would not listen to me; not one of them cast away the detestable
things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I
thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in
the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it
should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in
whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of
Egypt. 10 So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the
wilderness. 11 I gave them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, by whose
observance everyone shall live. 12 Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign
between me and them, so that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them. 13
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not
observe my statutes but rejected my ordinances, by whose observance everyone
shall live; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I thought I would pour
out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make an end of them. 14 But I acted
for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the
nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover I swore to them in
the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them,
a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, 16 because
they rejected my ordinances and did not observe my statutes, and profaned my
sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless my eye spared
them, and I did not destroy them or make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 I
said to their children in the wilderness, Do not follow the statutes of your
parents, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I the LORD am your God; follow my statutes, and be careful to observe my
ordinances, 20 and hallow my sabbaths that they may be a sign between me and
you, so that you may know that I the LORD am your God. 21 But the children
rebelled against me; they did not follow my statutes, and were not careful to
observe my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live; they profaned my
sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger
against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withheld my hand, and acted for the
sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations,
in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Moreover I swore to them in the
wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through
the countries, 24 because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected
my statutes and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their
ancestors' idols. 25 Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and
ordinances by which they could not live. 26 I defiled them through their very
gifts, in their offering up all their firstborn, in order that I might horrify
them, so that they might know that I am the LORD. 27 Therefore, mortal, speak to
the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In this again your
ancestors blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me. 28 For when I had
brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any
high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented
the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing odors, and
there they poured out their drink offerings. 29 (I said to them, What is the
high place to which you go? So it is called Bamah to this day.) 30 Therefore say
to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after
the manner of your ancestors and go astray after their detestable things? 31
When you offer your gifts and make your children pass through the fire, you
defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be consulted by
you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by
you. 32 What is in your mind shall never happen--the thought, "Let us be like
the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone." 33
As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you. 34 I will bring you out from
the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; 35 and I will
bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into
judgment with you face to face. 36 As I entered into judgment with your
ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment
with you, says the Lord GOD. 37 I will make you pass under the staff, and will
bring you within the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge out the rebels among
you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land
where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then
you shall know that I am the LORD. 39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus says
the Lord GOD: Go serve your idols, everyone of you now and hereafter, if you
will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your
gifts and your idols. 40 For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel,
says the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in
the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions
and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred things. 41 As a pleasing
odor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you
out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will manifest my
holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 You shall know that I am the
LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give
to your ancestors. 43 There you shall remember your ways and all the deeds by
which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves for all the
evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I
deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, or corrupt
deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord GOD. 45 The word of the LORD came to me:
46 Mortal, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and
prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb; 47 say to the forest of the
Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, I will kindle a fire
in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree; the
blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be
scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall
not be quenched. 49 Then I said, "Ah Lord GOD! they are saying of me, 'Is he not
a maker of allegories?'"
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face toward
Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of
Israel 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: I am coming against
you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both
righteous and wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from you both righteous and
wicked, therefore my sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from
south to north; 5 and all flesh shall know that I the LORD have drawn my sword
out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. 6 Moan therefore, mortal;
moan with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes. 7 And when they say
to you, "Why do you moan?" you shall say, "Because of the news that has come.
Every heart will melt and all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and
all knees will turn to water. See, it comes and it will be fulfilled," says the
Lord GOD. 8 And the word of the LORD came to me: 9 Mortal, prophesy and say:
Thus says the Lord; Say: A sword, a sword is sharpened, it is also polished; 10
It is sharpened for slaughter, honed to flash like lightning! How can we make
merry? You have despised the rod, and all discipline. 11 The sword is given to
be polished, to be grasped in the hand; It is sharpened, the sword is polished,
to be placed in the slayer's hand. 12 Cry and wail, O mortal, for it is against
my people; it is against all Israel's princes; they are thrown to the sword,
together with my people. Ah! Strike the thigh! 13 For consider: What! If you
despise the rod, will it not happen? says the Lord GOD. 14 And you, mortal,
prophesy; Strike hand to hand. Let the sword fall twice, thrice; it is a sword
for killing. A sword for great slaughter-- it surrounds them; 15 therefore
hearts melt and many stumble. At all their gates I have set the point of the
sword. Ah! It is made for flashing, it is polished for slaughter. 16 Attack to
the right! Engage to the left! Wherever your edge is directed. 17 I too will
strike hand to hand, I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. 18 The word
of the LORD came to me: 19 Mortal, mark out two roads for the sword of the king
of Babylon to come; both of them shall issue from the same land. And make a
signpost, make it for a fork in the road leading to a city; 20 mark out the road
for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites or to Judah and to Jerusalem
the fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at
the fork in the two roads, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults
the teraphim, he inspects the liver. 22 Into his right hand comes the lot for
Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to call out for slaughter, for raising the
battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build
siege towers. 23 But to them it will seem like a false divination; they have
sworn solemn oaths; but he brings their guilt to remembrance, bringing about
their capture. 24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have brought
your guilt to remembrance, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in
all your deeds your sins appear--because you have come to remembrance, you shall
be taken in hand. 25 As for you, vile, wicked prince of Israel, you whose day
has come, the time of final punishment, 26 thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the
turban, take off the crown; things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that
which is low, abase that which is high. 27 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin-- I will make
it! (Such has never occurred.) Until he comes whose right it is; to him I will
give it. 28 As for you, mortal, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD
concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; say: A sword, a sword!
Drawn for slaughter Polished to consume, to flash like lightning. 29 Offering
false visions for you, divining lies for you, they place you over the necks of
the vile, wicked ones-- those whose day has come, the time of final punishment.
30 Return it to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of
your origin, I will judge you. 31 I will pour out my indignation upon you, with
the fire of my wrath I will blow upon you. I will deliver you into brutish
hands, those skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be fuel for the fire, your blood
shall enter the earth; You shall be remembered no more, for I the LORD have
spoken.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 You, mortal, will you judge,
will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to it all its abominable deeds. 3
You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city! Shedding blood within itself; its
time has come; making its idols, defiling itself. 4 You have become guilty by
the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made; you
have brought your day near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore
I have made you a disgrace before the nations, and a mockery to all the
countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you,
you infamous one, full of tumult. 6 The princes of Israel in you, everyone
according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother
are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers
extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my
holy things, and profaned my sabbaths. 9 In you are those who slander to shed
blood, those in you who eat upon the mountains, who commit lewdness in your
midst. 10 In you they uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate
women in their menstrual periods. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor's
wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you defiles his
sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you, they take bribes to shed blood; you
take both advance interest and accrued interest, and make gain of your neighbors
by extortion; and you have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD. 13 See, I strike my
hands together at the dishonest gain you have made, and at the blood that has
been shed within you. 14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands remain
strong in the days when I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I
will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the
countries, and I will purge your filthiness out of you. 16 And I shall be
profaned through you in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am
the LORD. 17 The word of the LORD came to me: 18 Mortal, the house of Israel has
become dross to me; all of them, silver, bronze, tin, iron, and lead. In the
smelter they have become dross. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you
have all become dross, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one
gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire
upon them in order to melt them; so I will gather you in my anger and in my
wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow upon
you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted within it. 22 As silver
is melted in a smelter, so you shall be melted in it; and you shall know that I
the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you. 23 The word of the LORD came to me:
24 Mortal, say to it: You are a land that is not cleansed, not rained upon in
the day of indignation. 25 Its princes within it are like a roaring lion tearing
the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious
things; they have made many widows within it. 26 Its priests have done violence
to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction
between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between
the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am
profaned among them. 27 Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the
prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 Its prophets
have smeared whitewash on their behalf, seeing false visions and divining lies
for them, saying, "Thus says the Lord GOD," when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The
people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have
oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress.
30 And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the
breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I
found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have
consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon
their heads, says the Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, there were two women,
the daughters of one mother; 3 they played the whore in Egypt; they played the
whore in their youth; their breasts were caressed there, and their virgin bosoms
were fondled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her
sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names,
Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. 5 Oholah played the whore while
she was mine; she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in
blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, mounted
horsemen. 7 She bestowed her favors upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all
of them; and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone for whom she
lusted. 8 She did not give up her whorings that she had practiced since Egypt;
for in her youth men had lain with her and fondled her virgin bosom and poured
out their lust upon her. 9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her
lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. 10 These uncovered
her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and they killed her with
the sword. Judgment was executed upon her, and she became a byword among women.
11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt than she in her
lusting and in her whorings, which were worse than those of her sister. 12 She
lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full
armor, mounted horsemen, all of them handsome young men. 13 And I saw that she
was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her whorings
further; she saw male figures carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans
portrayed in vermilion, 15 with belts around their waists, with flowing turbans
on their heads, all of them looking like officers--a picture of Babylonians
whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them she lusted after them, and
sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the
bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust; and after she defiled herself
with them, she turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her whorings
so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had
turned from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her whorings, remembering the days
of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after
her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose
emission was like that of stallions. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your
youth, when the Egyptians fondled your bosom and caressed your young breasts. 22
Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: I will rouse against you your
lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from
every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa,
and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, governors and commanders
all of them, officers and warriors, all of them riding on horses. 24 They shall
come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples;
they shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and
helmet, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you
according to their ordinances. 25 I will direct my indignation against you, in
order that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your
ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and
your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 They shall also
strip you of your clothes and take away your fine jewels. 27 So I will put an
end to your lewdness and your whoring brought from the land of Egypt; you shall
not long for them, or remember Egypt any more. 28 For thus says the Lord GOD: I
will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those
from whom you turned in disgust; 29 and they shall deal with you in hatred, and
take away all the fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare, and the
nakedness of your whorings shall be exposed. Your lewdness and your whorings 30
have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations, and
polluted yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister;
therefore I will give her cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord GOD: You
shall drink your sister's cup, deep and wide; you shall be scorned and derided,
it holds so much. 33 You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of
horror and desolation is the cup of your sister Samaria; 34 you shall drink it
and drain it out, and gnaw its sherds, and tear out your breasts; for I have
spoken, says the Lord GOD. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have
forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore bear the consequences of
your lewdness and whorings. 36 The LORD said to me: Mortal, will you judge
Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds. 37 For they
have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; with their idols they have
committed adultery; and they have even offered up to them for food the children
whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover this they have done to me: they have
defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my sabbaths. 39 For when they
had slaughtered their children for their idols, on the same day they came into
my sanctuary to profane it. This is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent
for men to come from far away, to whom a messenger was sent, and they came. For
them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments;
41 you sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had
placed my incense and my oil. 42 The sound of a raucous multitude was around
her, with many of the rabble brought in drunken from the wilderness; and they
put bracelets on the arms of the women, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
43 Then I said, Ah, she is worn out with adulteries, but they carry on their
sexual acts with her. 44 For they have gone in to her, as one goes in to a
whore. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, wanton women. 45 But
righteous judges shall declare them guilty of adultery and of bloodshed; because
they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. 46 For thus says the Lord
GOD: Bring up an assembly against them, and make them an object of terror and of
plunder. 47 The assembly shall stone them and with their swords they shall cut
them down; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their
houses. 48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, so that all women may
take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 They shall repay you
for your lewdness, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry; and
you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
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In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the
month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, write down the name of this
day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very
day. 3 And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says
the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, pour in water also; 4 put in it the
pieces, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice
bones. 5 Take the choicest one of the flock, pile the logs under it; boil its
pieces, seethe also its bones in it. 6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to
the bloody city, the pot whose rust is in it, whose rust has not gone out of it!
Empty it piece by piece, making no choice at all. 7 For the blood she shed is
inside it; she placed it on a bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground,
to cover it with earth. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have placed
the blood she shed on a bare rock, so that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore
thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile great.
10 Heap up the logs, kindle the fire; boil the meat well, mix in the spices, let
the bones be burned. 11 Stand it empty upon the coals, so that it may become
hot, its copper glow, its filth melt in it, its rust be consumed. 12 In vain I
have wearied myself; its thick rust does not depart. To the fire with its rust!
13 Yet, when I cleansed you in your filthy lewdness, you did not become clean
from your filth; you shall not again be cleansed until I have satisfied my fury
upon you. 14 I the LORD have spoken; the time is coming, I will act. I will not
refrain, I will not spare, I will not relent. According to your ways and your
doings I will judge you, says the Lord GOD. 15 The word of the LORD came to me:
16 Mortal, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your
eyes; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh,
but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your
sandals on your feet; do not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners.
18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on
the next morning I did as I was commanded. 19 Then the people said to me, "Will
you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting this way?" 20
Then I said to them: The word of the LORD came to me: 21 Say to the house of
Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your
power, the delight of your eyes, and your heart's desire; and your sons and your
daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And you shall do as I
have done; you shall not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners. 23
Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall not
mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and groan to one
another. 24 Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; you shall do just as he has
done. When this comes, then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 And you,
mortal, on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory,
the delight of their eyes and their heart's affection, and also their sons and
their daughters, 26 on that day, one who has escaped will come to you to report
to you the news. 27 On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who has
escaped, and you shall speak and no longer be silent. So you shall be a sign to
them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face toward
the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word
of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, "Aha!" over my
sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made
desolate, and over the house of Judah when it went into exile; 4 therefore I am
handing you over to the people of the east for a possession. They shall set
their encampments among you and pitch their tents in your midst; they shall eat
your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for
camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 6
For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your
feet and rejoiced with all the malice within you against the land of Israel, 7
therefore I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as
plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you
perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you shall know that I am
the LORD. 8 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab said, The house of Judah is
like all the other nations, 9 therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from
the towns on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon,
and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give it along with Ammon to the people of the east as
a possession. Thus Ammon shall be remembered no more among the nations, 11 and I
will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they shall know that I am the LORD. 12
Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of
Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance upon them, 13 therefore
thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and cut off
from it humans and animals, and I will make it desolate; from Teman even to
Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the
hand of my people Israel; and they shall act in Edom according to my anger and
according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord GOD. 15
Thus says the Lord GOD: Because with unending hostilities the Philistines acted
in vengeance, and with malice of heart took revenge in destruction; 16 therefore
thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, cut
off the Cherethites, and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute
great vengeance on them with wrathful punishments. Then they shall know that I
am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance on them.
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In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of
the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, "Aha,
broken is the gateway of the peoples; it has swung open to me; I shall be
replenished, now that it is wasted." 3 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: See, I
am against you, O Tyre! I will hurl many nations against you, as the sea hurls
its waves. 4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down its towers. I
will scrape its soil from it and make it a bare rock. 5 It shall become, in the
midst of the sea, a place for spreading nets. I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.
It shall become plunder for the nations, 6 and its daughter-towns in the country
shall be killed by the sword. Then they shall know that I am the LORD. 7 For
thus says the Lord GOD: I will bring against Tyre from the north King
Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, king of kings, together with horses, chariots,
cavalry, and a great and powerful army. 8 Your daughter-towns in the country he
shall put to the sword. He shall set up a siege wall against you, cast up a ramp
against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. 9 He shall direct the
shock of his battering rams against your walls and break down your towers with
his axes. 10 His horses shall be so many that their dust shall cover you. At the
noise of cavalry, wheels, and chariots your very walls shall shake, when he
enters your gates like those entering a breached city. 11 With the hoofs of his
horses he shall trample all your streets. He shall put your people to the sword,
and your strong pillars shall fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your
riches and loot your merchandise; they shall break down your walls and destroy
your fine houses. Your stones and timber and soil they shall cast into the
water. 13 I will silence the music of your songs; the sound of your lyres shall
be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for
spreading nets. You shall never again be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,
says the Lord GOD. 15 Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Shall not the coastlands
shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter goes on
within you? 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall step down from their
thrones; they shall remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments.
They shall clothe themselves with trembling, and shall sit on the ground; they
shall tremble every moment, and be appalled at you. 17 And they shall raise a
lamentation over you, and say to you: How you have vanished from the seas, O
city renowned, once mighty on the sea, you and your inhabitants, who imposed
your terror on all the mainland! 18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of
your fall; the coastlands by the sea are dismayed at your passing. 19 For thus
says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like cities that are not
inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20
then I will thrust you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people
of long ago, and I will make you live in the world below, among primeval ruins,
with those who go down to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or have a
place in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you
shall be no more; though sought for, you will never be found again, says the
Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Now you, mortal, raise a
lamentation over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, which sits at the entrance to the sea,
merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, Thus says the Lord GOD: O Tyre, you
have said, "I am perfect in beauty." 4 Your borders are in the heart of the
seas; your builders made perfect your beauty. 5 They made all your planks of fir
trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. 6 From
oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts
of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory. 7 Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your
sail, serving as your ensign; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was
your awning. 8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; skilled men
of Zemer were within you, they were your pilots. 9 The elders of Gebal and its
artisans were within you, caulking your seams; all the ships of the sea with
their mariners were within you, to barter for your wares. 10 Paras and Lud and
Put were in your army, your mighty warriors; they hung shield and helmet in you;
they gave you splendor. 11 Men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all
around; men of Gamad were at your towers. They hung their quivers all around
your walls; they made perfect your beauty. 12 Tarshish did business with you out
of the abundance of your great wealth; silver, iron, tin, and lead they
exchanged for your wares. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they
exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14
Beth-togarmah exchanged for your wares horses, war horses, and mules. 15 The
Rhodians traded with you; many coastlands were your own special markets; they
brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Edom did business with you
because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares turquoise, purple,
embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies. 17 Judah and the land of Israel
traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat from Minnith, millet,
honey, oil, and balm. 18 Damascus traded with you for your abundant
goods--because of your great wealth of every kind--wine of Helbon, and white
wool. 19 Vedan and Javan from Uzal entered into trade for your wares; wrought
iron, cassia, and sweet cane were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded
with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were
your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with
you. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for
your wares the best of all kinds of spices, and all precious stones, and gold.
23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with
you. 24 These traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and
embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made
secure; in these they traded with you. 25 The ships of Tarshish traveled for you
in your trade. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas. 26
Your rowers have brought you into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you
in the heart of the seas. 27 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your
mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all
your warriors within you, with all the company that is with you, sink into the
heart of the seas on the day of your ruin. 28 At the sound of the cry of your
pilots the countryside shakes, 29 and down from their ships come all that handle
the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the shore 30 and
wail aloud over you, and cry bitterly. They throw dust on their heads and wallow
in ashes; 31 they make themselves bald for you, and put on sackcloth, and they
weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. 32 In their wailing
they raise a lamentation for you, and lament over you: "Who was ever destroyed
like Tyre in the midst of the sea? 33 When your wares came from the seas, you
satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched
the kings of the earth. 34 Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the
waters; your merchandise and all your crew have sunk with you. 35 All the
inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you; and their kings are horribly
afraid, their faces are convulsed. 36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at
you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever."
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, say to the prince of
Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because your heart is proud and you have said, "I
am a god; I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas," yet you are
but a mortal, and no god, though you compare your mind with the mind of a god. 3
You are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; 4 by your wisdom
and your understanding you have amassed wealth for yourself, and have gathered
gold and silver into your treasuries. 5 By your great wisdom in trade you have
increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth. 6
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you compare your mind with the mind of
a god, 7 therefore, I will bring strangers against you, the most terrible of the
nations; they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and
defile your splendor. 8 They shall thrust you down to the Pit, and you shall die
a violent death in the heart of the seas. 9 Will you still say, "I am a god," in
the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a mortal, and no god, in
the hands of those who wound you? 10 You shall die the death of the
uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: 12 Mortal, raise a lamentation over
the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of
perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the
garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, chrysolite,
and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and
worked in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were
created they were prepared. 14 With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you;
you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. 15
You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until
iniquity was found in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled
with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the
mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of
fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom
for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before
kings, to feast their eyes on you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in
the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought
out fire from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the
earth in the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who know you among the peoples are
appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.
20 The word of the LORD came to me: 21 Mortal, set your face toward Sidon, and
prophesy against it, 22 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am against you, O
Sidon, and I will gain glory in your midst. They shall know that I am the LORD
when I execute judgments in it, and manifest my holiness in it; 23 for I will
send pestilence into it, and bloodshed into its streets; and the dead shall fall
in its midst, by the sword that is against it on every side. And they shall know
that I am the LORD. 24 The house of Israel shall no longer find a pricking brier
or a piercing thorn among all their neighbors who have treated them with
contempt. And they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 Thus says the Lord GOD:
When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are
scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then
they shall settle on their own soil that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They
shall live in safety in it, and shall build houses and plant vineyards. They
shall live in safety, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have
treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
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In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the
month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face against Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say,
Thus says the Lord GOD: I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great
dragon sprawling in the midst of its channels, saying, "My Nile is my own; I
made it for myself." 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your
channels stick to your scales. I will draw you up from your channels, with all
the fish of your channels sticking to your scales. 5 I will fling you into the
wilderness, you and all the fish of your channels; you shall fall in the open
field, and not be gathered and buried. To the animals of the earth and to the
birds of the air I have given you as food. 6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
shall know that I am the LORD because you were a staff of reed to the house of
Israel; 7 when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their
shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and made all their legs
unsteady. 8 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: I will bring a sword upon you,
and will cut off from you human being and animal; 9 and the land of Egypt shall
be a desolation and a waste. Then they shall know that I am the LORD. Because
you said, "The Nile is mine, and I made it," 10 therefore, I am against you, and
against your channels, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and
desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 No human
foot shall pass through it, and no animal foot shall pass through it; it shall
be uninhabited forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among
desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among
cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and
disperse them among the countries. 13 Further, thus says the Lord GOD: At the
end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they
were scattered; 14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back
to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a
lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again
exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they will
never again rule over the nations. 16 The Egyptians shall never again be the
reliance of the house of Israel; they will recall their iniquity, when they
turned to them for aid. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 17 In the
twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word
of the LORD came to me: 18 Mortal, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made his army
labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed
bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor
that he had expended against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will
give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon; and he shall carry off
its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his
army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored,
because they worked for me, says the Lord GOD. 21 On that day I will cause a
horn to sprout up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them.
Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy, and say,
Thus says the Lord GOD: Wail, "Alas for the day!" 3 For a day is near, the day
of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
4 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the
slain fall in Egypt, and its wealth is carried away, and its foundations are
torn down. 5 Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the
people of the allied land shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus says the
LORD: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and its proud might shall come down;
from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within it by the sword, says the Lord GOD.
7 They shall be desolated among other desolated countries, and their cities
shall lie among cities laid waste. 8 Then they shall know that I am the LORD,
when I have set fire to Egypt, and all who help it are broken. 9 On that day,
messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians;
and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for it is coming!
10 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt, by the hand
of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the most
terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall
draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 I will dry
up the channels, and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring
desolation upon the land and everything in it by the hand of foreigners; I the
LORD have spoken. 13 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will destroy the idols and put an
end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince in the land of
Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. 14 I will make Pathros a
desolation, and will set fire to Zoan, and will execute acts of judgment on
Thebes. 15 I will pour my wrath upon Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut
off the hordes of Thebes. 16 I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in
great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis face adversaries by day. 17
The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword; and the cities
themselves shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark,
when I break there the dominion of Egypt, and its proud might shall come to an
end; the city shall be covered by a cloud, and its daughter-towns shall go into
captivity. 19 Thus I will execute acts of judgment on Egypt. Then they shall
know that I am the LORD. 20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the
seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 21 Mortal, I have
broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; it has not been bound up for healing or
wrapped with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will
break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will make
the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations,
and disperse them throughout the lands. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the
king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of
Pharaoh, and he will groan before him with the groans of one mortally wounded.
25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh
shall fall. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the
hand of the king of Babylon. He shall stretch it out against the land of Egypt,
26 and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them
throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
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In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of
the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, say to Pharaoh king of
Egypt and to his hordes: Whom are you like in your greatness? 3 Consider
Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great
height, its top among the clouds. 4 The waters nourished it, the deep made it
grow tall, making its rivers flow around the place it was planted, sending forth
its streams to all the trees of the field. 5 So it towered high above all the
trees of the field; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant
water in its shoots. 6 All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth to their young; and
in its shade all great nations lived. 7 It was beautiful in its greatness, in
the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant water. 8 The
cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the fir trees equal its
boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in
the garden of God was like it in beauty. 9 I made it beautiful with its mass of
branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God. 10
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among
the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, 11 I gave it into the hand of
the prince of the nations; he has dealt with it as its wickedness deserves. I
have cast it out. 12 Foreigners from the most terrible of the nations have cut
it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have
fallen, and its boughs lie broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all
the peoples of the earth went away from its shade and left it. 13 On its fallen
trunk settle all the birds of the air, and among its boughs lodge all the wild
animals. 14 All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty
height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water
may reach up to them in height. For all of them are handed over to death, to the
world below; along with all mortals, with those who go down to the Pit. 15 Thus
says the Lord GOD: On the day it went down to Sheol I closed the deep over it
and covered it; I restrained its rivers, and its mighty waters were checked. I
clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because
of it. 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down
to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the
choice and best of Lebanon, all that were well watered, were consoled in the
world below. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it, to those killed by the
sword, along with its allies, those who lived in its shade among the nations. 18
Which among the trees of Eden was like you in glory and in greatness? Now you
shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; you shall lie
among the uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh
and all his horde, says the Lord GOD.
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In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of
the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, raise a lamentation over
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: You consider yourself a lion among the
nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you thrash about in your
streams, trouble the water with your feet, and foul your streams. 3 Thus says
the Lord GOD: In an assembly of many peoples I will throw my net over you; and I
will haul you up in my dragnet. 4 I will throw you on the ground, on the open
field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on
you, and I will let the wild animals of the whole earth gorge themselves with
you. 5 I will strew your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your
carcass. 6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood up to the mountains,
and the watercourses will be filled with you. 7 When I blot you out, I will
cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light. 8 All the shining lights of the heavens I
will darken above you, and put darkness on your land, says the Lord GOD. 9 I
will trouble the hearts of many peoples, as I carry you captive among the
nations, into countries you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples appalled
at you; their kings shall shudder because of you. When I brandish my sword
before them, they shall tremble every moment for their lives, each one of them,
on the day of your downfall. 11 For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the
king of Babylon shall come against you. 12 I will cause your hordes to fall by
the swords of mighty ones, all of them most terrible among the nations. They
shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes shall perish. 13 I
will destroy all its livestock from beside abundant waters; and no human foot
shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them. 14 Then
I will make their waters clear, and cause their streams to run like oil, says
the Lord GOD. 15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is
stripped of all that fills it, when I strike down all who live in it, then they
shall know that I am the LORD. 16 This is a lamentation; it shall be chanted.
The women of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and all its hordes they
shall chant it, says the Lord GOD. 17 In the twelfth year, in the first month,
on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 18 Mortal,
wail over the hordes of Egypt, and send them down, with Egypt and the daughters
of majestic nations, to the world below, with those who go down to the Pit. 19
"Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down! Be laid to rest with the
uncircumcised!" 20 They shall fall among those who are killed by the sword.
Egypt has been handed over to the sword; carry away both it and its hordes. 21
The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of
Sheol: "They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the
sword." 22 Assyria is there, and all its company, their graves all around it,
all of them killed, fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are set in the
uttermost parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its grave, all of them
killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living. 24
Elam is there, and all its hordes around its grave; all of them killed, fallen
by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread
terror in the land of the living. They bear their shame with those who go down
to the Pit. 25 They have made Elam a bed among the slain with all its hordes,
their graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; for
terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame
with those who go down to the Pit; they are placed among the slain. 26 Meshech
and Tubal are there, and all their multitude, their graves all around them, all
of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; for they spread terror in the land
of the living. 27 And they do not lie with the fallen warriors of long ago who
went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their
heads, and whose shields are upon their bones; for the terror of the warriors
was in the land of the living. 28 So you shall be broken and lie among the
uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword. 29 Edom is there, its
kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are
killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to
the Pit. 30 The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the
Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that
they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are killed by
the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit. 31 When
Pharaoh sees them, he will be consoled for all his hordes--Pharaoh and all his
army, killed by the sword, says the Lord GOD. 32 For he spread terror in the
land of the living; therefore he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those who are slain by the sword--Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the
Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 O Mortal, speak to your
people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the
land take one of their number as their sentinel; 3 and if the sentinel sees the
sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people; 4 then if
any who hear the sound of the trumpet do not take warning, and the sword comes
and takes them away, their blood shall be upon their own heads. 5 They heard the
sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; their blood shall be upon
themselves. But if they had taken warning, they would have saved their lives. 6
But if the sentinel sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that
the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any of them, they are
taken away in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at the sentinel's
hand. 7 So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever
you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say
to the wicked, "O wicked ones, you shall surely die," and you do not speak to
warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity,
but their blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to
turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die
in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life. 10 Now you, mortal, say to
the house of Israel, Thus you have said: "Our transgressions and our sins weigh
upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?" 11 Say to
them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back
from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel? 12 And you,
mortal, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not save
them when they transgress; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, it shall not
make them stumble when they turn from their wickedness; and the righteous shall
not be able to live by their righteousness when they sin. 13 Though I say to the
righteous that they shall surely live, yet if they trust in their righteousness
and commit iniquity, none of their righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in
the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. 14 Again, though I say to
the wicked, "You shall surely die," yet if they turn from their sin and do what
is lawful and right-- 15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give back what they
have taken by robbery, and walk in the statutes of life, committing no
iniquity--they shall surely live, they shall not die. 16 None of the sins that
they have committed shall be remembered against them; they have done what is
lawful and right, they shall surely live. 17 Yet your people say, "The way of
the Lord is not just," when it is their own way that is not just. 18 When the
righteous turn from their righteousness, and commit iniquity, they shall die for
it. 19 And when the wicked turn from their wickedness, and do what is lawful and
right, they shall live by it. 20 Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not just."
O house of Israel, I will judge all of you according to your ways! 21 In the
twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month,
someone who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has
fallen." 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the
fugitive came; but he had opened my mouth by the time the fugitive came to me in
the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer unable to speak. 23 The
word of the LORD came to me: 24 Mortal, the inhabitants of these waste places in
the land of Israel keep saying, "Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession
of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess." 25
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat flesh with the blood, and
lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; shall you then possess the
land? 26 You depend on your swords, you commit abominations, and each of you
defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? 27 Say this to
them, Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely those who are in the waste
places shall fall by the sword; and those who are in the open field I will give
to the wild animals to be devoured; and those who are in strongholds and in
caves shall die by pestilence. 28 I will make the land a desolation and a waste,
and its proud might shall come to an end; and the mountains of Israel shall be
so desolate that no one will pass through. 29 Then they shall know that I am the
LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their
abominations that they have committed. 30 As for you, mortal, your people who
talk together about you by the walls, and at the doors of the houses, say to one
another, each to a neighbor, "Come and hear what the word is that comes from the
LORD." 31 They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people,
and they hear your words, but they will not obey them. For flattery is on their
lips, but their heart is set on their gain. 32 To them you are like a singer of
love songs, one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they
hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 When this comes--and come it
will!--then they shall know that a prophet has been among them.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the
shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them--to the shepherds: Thus says the
Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should
not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the
wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. 4 You have not
strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the
injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost,
but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered,
because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild
animals. 6 My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on
every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no
one to search or seek for them. 7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the
LORD: 8 As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my sheep have become a prey, and
my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd;
and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have
fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the
word of the LORD: 10 Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds; and I
will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep;
no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their
mouths, so that they may not be food for them. 11 For thus says the Lord GOD: I
myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek
out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out
my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been
scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from
the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their
own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses,
and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed them with good
pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they
shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the
mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will
make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring
back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the
weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
17 As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: I shall judge between sheep and
sheep, between rams and goats: 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good
pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When
you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? 19 And must my
sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled
with your feet? 20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will
judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank
and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you
scattered them far and wide, 22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer
be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 I will set up over them
one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and
be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David
shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken. 25 I will make with them a
covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live
in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. 26 I will make them and the region
around my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season;
they shall be showers of blessing. 27 The trees of the field shall yield their
fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their
soil; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their
yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They shall no
more be plunder for the nations, nor shall the animals of the land devour them;
they shall live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will provide
for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with
hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations. 30 They
shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of
Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my
pasture and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face against
Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, Thus says the Lord GOD: I
am against you, Mount Seir; I stretch out my hand against you to make you a
desolation and a waste. 4 I lay your towns in ruins; you shall become a
desolation, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 5 Because you cherished an
ancient enmity, and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at
the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment; 6 therefore,
as I live, says the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall
pursue you; since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed shall pursue you. 7 I
will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation; and I will cut off from it all
who come and go. 8 I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and
in your valleys and in all your watercourses those killed with the sword shall
fall. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall never be
inhabited. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 10 Because you said, "These
two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession
of them,"--although the LORD was there-- 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord
GOD, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed
because of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among you,
when I judge you. 12 You shall know that I, the LORD, have heard all the abusive
speech that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, "They are laid
desolate, they are given us to devour." 13 And you magnified yourselves against
me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. 14 Thus
says the Lord GOD: As the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As
you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was
desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all
Edom, all of it. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
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And you, mortal, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say: O
mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 Thus says the Lord GOD:
Because the enemy said of you, "Aha!" and, "The ancient heights have become our
possession," 3 therefore prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they
made you desolate indeed, and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the
possession of the rest of the nations, and you became an object of gossip and
slander among the people; 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of
the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the
watercourses and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted towns, which
have become a source of plunder and an object of derision to the rest of the
nations all around; 5 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I am speaking in my hot
jealousy against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who, with
wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my land as their possession, because
of its pasture, to plunder it. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of
Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the watercourses and valleys,
Thus says the Lord GOD: I am speaking in my jealous wrath, because you have
suffered the insults of the nations; 7 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear
that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer insults. 8 But
you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit
to my people Israel; for they shall soon come home. 9 See now, I am for you; I
will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown; 10 and I will multiply your
population, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the towns shall be inhabited
and the waste places rebuilt; 11 and I will multiply human beings and animals
upon you. They shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be
inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever
before. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 12 I will lead people upon
you--my people Israel--and they shall possess you, and you shall be their
inheritance. No longer shall you bereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord
GOD: Because they say to you, "You devour people, and you bereave your nation of
children," 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave
your nation of children, says the Lord GOD; 15 and no longer will I let you hear
the insults of the nations, no longer shall you bear the disgrace of the
peoples; and no longer shall you cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord
GOD. 16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17 Mortal, when the house of Israel
lived on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their
conduct in my sight was like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual period.
18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the
land, and for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them
among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; in accordance
with their conduct and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the
nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of
them, "These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his
land." 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had
profaned among the nations to which they came. 22 Therefore say to the house of
Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that
I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned
among the nations to which you came. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has
been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the
nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through you I
display my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations, and
gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 I will
sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your
uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will
give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your
body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my spirit
within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my
ordinances. 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors;
and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all
your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no
famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the
field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among
the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your dealings that
were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your
abominable deeds. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord GOD;
let that be known to you. Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O house of
Israel. 33 Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your
iniquities, I will cause the towns to be inhabited, and the waste places shall
be rebuilt. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the
desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say,
"This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste
and desolate and ruined towns are now inhabited and fortified." 36 Then the
nations that are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt
the ruined places, and replanted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have
spoken, and I will do it. 37 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will also let the house
of Israel ask me to do this for them: to increase their population like a flock.
38 Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her
appointed festivals, so shall the ruined towns be filled with flocks of people.
Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
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The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the
spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of
bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley,
and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I
answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these
bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the
Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6
I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you
with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I
am the LORD." 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied,
suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its
bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them,
and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to
me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says
the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain,
that they may live." 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came
into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 Then he
said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our
bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' 12
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open
your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring
you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I
open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put
my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil;
then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act," says the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 Mortal, take a stick and write on it,
"For Judah, and the Israelites associated with it"; then take another stick and
write on it, "For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel
associated with it"; 17 and join them together into one stick, so that they may
become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, "Will you not show
us what you mean by these?" 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am about
to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of
Israel associated with it; and I will put the stick of Judah upon it, and make
them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on
which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus
says the Lord GOD: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which
they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their
own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of
Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two
nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall
never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or
with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into
which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and
I will be their GOD. 24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall
all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe
my statutes. 25 They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in
which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children's
children shall live there forever; and my servant David shall be their prince
forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and
will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with
them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations
shall know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them
forevermore.
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The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face toward
Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy
against him 3 and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: I am against you, O Gog, chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal; 4 I will turn you around and put hooks into your
jaws, and I will lead you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of
them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with shield and
buckler, wielding swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Put are with them, all of them
with buckler and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the
remotest parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples are with you. 7 Be
ready and keep ready, you and all the companies that are assembled around you,
and hold yourselves in reserve for them. 8 After many days you shall be
mustered; in the latter years you shall go against a land restored from war, a
land where people were gathered from many nations on the mountains of Israel,
which had long lain waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now
are living in safety, all of them. 9 You shall advance, coming on like a storm;
you shall be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many
peoples with you. 10 Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day thoughts will come into
your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will go up
against the land of unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people who
live in safety, all of them living without walls, and having no bars or gates";
12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder; to assail the waste places that are now
inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who are acquiring
cattle and goods, who live at the center of the earth. 13 Sheba and Dedan and
the merchants of Tarshish and all its young warriors will say to you, "Have you
come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your horde to carry off plunder, to
carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize a great
amount of booty?" 14 Therefore, mortal, prophesy, and say to Gog: Thus says the
Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will rouse
yourself 15 and come from your place out of the remotest parts of the north, you
and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty
army; 16 you will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the
earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, so that the nations
may know me, when through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before their eyes.
17 Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my
servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I
would bring you against them? 18 On that day, when Gog comes against the land of
Israel, says the Lord GOD, my wrath shall be aroused. 19 For in my jealousy and
in my blazing wrath I declare: On that day there shall be a great shaking in the
land of Israel; 20 the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the
animals of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all
human beings that are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence, and
the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall
shall tumble to the ground. 21 I will summon the sword against Gog in all my
mountains, says the Lord GOD; the swords of all will be against their comrades.
22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will
pour down torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur, upon him and his
troops and the many peoples that are with him. 23 So I will display my greatness
and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they
shall know that I am the LORD.
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And you, mortal, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus says the
Lord GOD: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal! 2 I will
turn you around and drive you forward, and bring you up from the remotest parts
of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 I will strike your
bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.
4 You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the
peoples that are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every kind and to
the wild animals to be devoured. 5 You shall fall in the open field; for I have
spoken, says the Lord GOD. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live
securely in the coastlands; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 7 My holy
name I will make known among my people Israel; and I will not let my holy name
be profaned any more; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy
One in Israel. 8 It has come! It has happened, says the Lord GOD. This is the
day of which I have spoken. 9 Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go
out and make fires of the weapons and burn them--bucklers and shields, bows and
arrows, handpikes and spears--and they will make fires of them for seven years.
10 They will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any trees in the
forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons; they will despoil those
who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord GOD. 11
On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the
Travelers east of the sea; it shall block the path of the travelers, for there
Gog and all his horde will be buried; it shall be called the Valley of
Hamon-gog. 12 Seven months the house of Israel shall spend burying them, in
order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land shall bury them; and it
will bring them honor on the day that I show my glory, says the Lord GOD. 14
They will set apart men to pass through the land regularly and bury any invaders
who remain on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it; for seven months they
shall make their search. 15 As the searchers pass through the land, anyone who
sees a human bone shall set up a sign by it, until the buriers have buried it in
the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (A city Hamonah is there also.) Thus they shall
cleanse the land. 17 As for you, mortal, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the
birds of every kind and to all the wild animals: Assemble and come, gather from
all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great
sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink
blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the
princes of the earth--of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them
fatlings of Bashan. 19 You shall eat fat until you are filled, and drink blood
until you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. 20
And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with warriors
and all kinds of soldiers, says the Lord GOD. 21 I will display my glory among
the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and
my hand that I have laid on them. 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am
the LORD their God, from that day forward. 23 And the nations shall know that
the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt
treacherously with me. So I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of
their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them
according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from
them. 25 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of
Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my
holy name. 26 They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they have
practiced against me, when they live securely in their land with no one to make
them afraid, 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them
from their enemies' lands, and through them have displayed my holiness in the
sight of many nations. 28 Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God
because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into
their own land. I will leave none of them behind; 29 and I will never again hide
my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the
Lord GOD.
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In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the
year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was
struck down, on that very day, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought
me there. 2 He brought me, in visions of God, to the land of Israel, and set me
down upon a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the
south. 3 When he brought me there, a man was there, whose appearance shone like
bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand; and he was standing
in the gateway. 4 The man said to me, "Mortal, look closely and listen
attentively, and set your mind upon all that I shall show you, for you were
brought here in order that I might show it to you; declare all that you see to
the house of Israel." 5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the
temple area. The length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long
cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length; so he measured the
thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. 6 Then he went into
the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the
gate, one reed deep. There were 7 recesses, and each recess was one reed wide
and one reed deep; and the space between the recesses, five cubits; and the
threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end was one reed
deep. 8 Then he measured the inner vestibule of the gateway, one cubit. 9 Then
he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its pilasters, two
cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. 10 There were three
recesses on either side of the east gate; the three were of the same size; and
the pilasters on either side were of the same size. 11 Then he measured the
width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the width of the gateway,
thirteen cubits. 12 There was a barrier before the recesses, one cubit on either
side; and the recesses were six cubits on either side. 13 Then he measured the
gate from the back of the one recess to the back of the other, a width of
twenty-five cubits, from wall to wall. 14 He measured also the vestibule, twenty
cubits; and the gate next to the pilaster on every side of the court. 15 From
the front of the gate at the entrance to the end of the inner vestibule of the
gate was fifty cubits. 16 The recesses and their pilasters had windows, with
shutters on the inside of the gateway all around, and the vestibules also had
windows on the inside all around; and on the pilasters were palm trees. 17 Then
he brought me into the outer court; there were chambers there, and a pavement,
all around the court; thirty chambers fronted on the pavement. 18 The pavement
ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this
was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the distance from the inner front of
the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, one hundred cubits. 20
Then he measured the gate of the outer court that faced north--its depth and
width. 21 Its recesses, three on either side, and its pilasters and its
vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate; its depth was fifty
cubits, and its width twenty-five cubits. 22 Its windows, its vestibule, and its
palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the
east. Seven steps led up to it; and its vestibule was on the inside. 23 Opposite
the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court; he
measured from gate to gate, one hundred cubits. 24 Then he led me toward the
south, and there was a gate on the south; and he measured its pilasters and its
vestibule; they had the same dimensions as the others. 25 There were windows all
around in it and in its vestibule, like the windows of the others; its depth was
fifty cubits, and its width twenty-five cubits. 26 There were seven steps
leading up to it; its vestibule was on the inside. It had palm trees on its
pilasters, one on either side. 27 There was a gate on the south of the inner
court; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred cubits.
28 Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the
south gate; it was of the same dimensions as the others. 29 Its recesses, its
pilasters, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others; and there were
windows all around in it and in its vestibule; its depth was fifty cubits, and
its width twenty-five cubits. 30 There were vestibules all around, twenty-five
cubits deep and five cubits wide. 31 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and
palm trees were on its pilasters, and its stairway had eight steps. 32 Then he
brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate; it was
of the same size as the others. 33 Its recesses, its pilasters, and its
vestibule were of the same dimensions as the others; and there were windows all
around in it and in its vestibule; its depth was fifty cubits, and its width
twenty-five cubits. 34 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm
trees on its pilasters, on either side; and its stairway had eight steps. 35
Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same
dimensions as the others. 36 Its recesses, its pilasters, and its vestibule were
of the same size as the others; and it had windows all around. Its depth was
fifty cubits, and its width twenty-five cubits. 37 Its vestibule faced the outer
court, and it had palm trees on its pilasters, on either side; and its stairway
had eight steps. 38 There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the
gate, where the burnt offering was to be washed. 39 And in the vestibule of the
gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offering and the sin
offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered. 40 On the outside of the
vestibule at the entrance of the north gate were two tables; and on the other
side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. 41 Four tables were on the
inside, and four tables on the outside of the side of the gate, eight tables, on
which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. 42 There were also four tables of
hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and one cubit and a
half wide, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with
which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered. 43 There were
pegs, one handbreadth long, fastened all around the inside. And on the tables
the flesh of the offering was to be laid. 44 On the outside of the inner gateway
there were chambers for the singers in the inner court, one at the side of the
north gate facing south, the other at the side of the east gate facing north. 45
He said to me, "This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge
of the temple, 46 and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have
charge of the altar; these are the descendants of Zadok, who alone among the
descendants of Levi may come near to the LORD to minister to him." 47 He
measured the court, one hundred cubits deep, and one hundred cubits wide, a
square; and the altar was in front of the temple. 48 Then he brought me to the
vestibule of the temple and measured the pilasters of the vestibule, five cubits
on either side; and the width of the gate was fourteen cubits; and the sidewalls
of the gate were three cubits on either side. 49 The depth of the vestibule was
twenty cubits, and the width twelve cubits; ten steps led up to it; and there
were pillars beside the pilasters on either side.
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Then he brought me to the nave, and measured the pilasters; on
each side six cubits was the width of the pilasters. 2 The width of the entrance
was ten cubits; and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either
side. He measured the length of the nave, forty cubits, and its width, twenty
cubits. 3 Then he went into the inner room and measured the pilasters of the
entrance, two cubits; and the width of the entrance, six cubits; and the
sidewalls of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 He measured the depth of the room,
twenty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits, beyond the nave. And he said to me,
This is the most holy place. 5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, six
cubits thick; and the width of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the
temple. 6 The side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in
each story. There were offsets all around the wall of the temple to serve as
supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall
of the temple. 7 The passageway of the side chambers widened from story to
story; for the structure was supplied with a stairway all around the temple. For
this reason the structure became wider from story to story. One ascended from
the bottom story to the uppermost story by way of the middle one. 8 I saw also
that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side
chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits. 9 The thickness of the outer
wall of the side chambers was five cubits; and the free space between the side
chambers of the temple 10 and the chambers of the court was a width of twenty
cubits all around the temple on every side. 11 The side chambers opened onto the
area left free, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south;
and the width of the part that was left free was five cubits all around. 12 The
building that was facing the temple yard on the west side was seventy cubits
wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its
depth ninety cubits. 13 Then he measured the temple, one hundred cubits deep;
and the yard and the building with its walls, one hundred cubits deep; 14 also
the width of the east front of the temple and the yard, one hundred cubits. 15
Then he measured the depth of the building facing the yard at the west, together
with its galleries on either side, one hundred cubits. The nave of the temple
and the inner room and the outer vestibule 16 were paneled, and, all around, all
three had windows with recessed frames. Facing the threshold the temple was
paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows
were covered), 17 to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on
the outside. And on all the walls all around in the inner room and the nave
there was a pattern. 18 It was formed of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree
between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces: 19 a human face turned
toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion turned toward
the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all
around; 20 from the floor to the area above the door, cherubim and palm trees
were carved on the wall. 21 The doorposts of the nave were square. In front of
the holy place was something resembling 22 an altar of wood, three cubits high,
two cubits long, and two cubits wide; its corners, its base, and its walls were
of wood. He said to me, "This is the table that stands before the LORD." 23 The
nave and the holy place had each a double door. 24 The doors had two leaves
apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. 25 On the doors of the nave were
carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls; and there was
a canopy of wood in front of the vestibule outside. 26 And there were recessed
windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule.
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Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and
he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the temple yard and opposite
the building on the north. 2 The length of the building that was on the north
side was one hundred cubits, and the width fifty cubits. 3 Across the twenty
cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged
to the outer court, the chambers rose gallery by gallery in three stories. 4 In
front of the chambers was a passage on the inner side, ten cubits wide and one
hundred cubits deep, and its entrances were on the north. 5 Now the upper
chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the
lower and middle chambers in the building. 6 For they were in three stories, and
they had no pillars like the pillars of the outer court; for this reason the
upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle
ones. 7 There was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer
court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. 8 For the chambers on the outer
court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the temple were one hundred
cubits long. 9 At the foot of these chambers ran a passage that one entered from
the east in order to enter them from the outer court. 10 The width of the
passage is fixed by the wall of the court. On the south also, opposite the
vacant area and opposite the building, there were chambers 11 with a passage in
front of them; they were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same
length and width, with the same exits and arrangements and doors. 12 So the
entrances of the chambers to the south were entered through the entrance at the
head of the corresponding passage, from the east, along the matching wall. 13
Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the
vacant area are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the LORD shall
eat the most holy offerings; there they shall deposit the most holy
offerings--the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, for the
place is holy. 14 When the priests enter the holy place, they shall not go out
of it into the outer court without laying there the vestments in which they
minister, for these are holy; they shall put on other garments before they go
near to the area open to the people." 15 When he had finished measuring the
interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faces east, and
measured the temple area all around. 16 He measured the east side with the
measuring reed, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 17 Then he turned and
measured the north side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 18 Then he
turned and measured the south side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed.
19 Then he turned to the west side and measured, five hundred cubits by the
measuring reed. 20 He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it,
five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to make a separation
between the holy and the common.
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Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2 And
there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was
like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory. 3 The
vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the
city, and like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon
my face. 4 As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east,
5 the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of
the LORD filled the temple. 6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard
someone speaking to me out of the temple. 7 He said to me: Mortal, this is the
place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will reside
among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my
holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their whoring, and by the corpses of
their kings at their death. 8 When they placed their threshold by my threshold
and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them,
they were defiling my holy name by their abominations that they committed;
therefore I have consumed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put away their
idolatry and the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will reside among
them forever. 10 As for you, mortal, describe the temple to the house of Israel,
and let them measure the pattern; and let them be ashamed of their iniquities.
11 When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan
of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole
form--all its ordinances and its entire plan and all its laws; and write it down
in their sight, so that they may observe and follow the entire plan and all its
ordinances. 12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of
the mountain all around shall be most holy. This is the law of the temple. 13
These are the dimensions of the altar by cubits (the cubit being one cubit and a
handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high, and one cubit wide, with a rim
of one span around its edge. This shall be the height of the altar: 14 From the
base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a width of one cubit;
and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a width of one
cubit; 15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth
projecting upward, four horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve
cubits long by twelve wide. 17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits
long by fourteen wide, with a rim around it half a cubit wide, and its
surrounding base, one cubit. Its steps shall face east. 18 Then he said to me:
Mortal, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the
day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for dashing
blood against it, 19 you shall give to the levitical priests of the family of
Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, says the Lord GOD, a bull for a
sin offering. 20 And you shall take some of its blood, and put it on the four
horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the ledge, and upon the rim all
around; thus you shall purify it and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also
take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place
belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. 22 On the second day you shall
offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be
purified, as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying
it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without
blemish. 24 You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw
salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. 25 For seven
days you shall provide daily a goat for a sin offering; also a bull and a ram
from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. 26 Seven days shall they
make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it. 27 When these
days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the
altar your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being; and I will accept
you, says the Lord GOD.
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Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary,
which faces east; and it was shut. 2 The LORD said to me: This gate shall remain
shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the LORD, the
God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the
prince, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food before the LORD; he
shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same
way. 4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple;
and I looked, and lo! the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD; and I
fell upon my face. 5 The LORD said to me: Mortal, mark well, look closely, and
listen attentively to all that I shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of
the temple of the LORD and all its laws; and mark well those who may be admitted
to the temple and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary. 6 Say to
the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of
Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations 7 in admitting foreigners,
uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple
when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant
with all your abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of my sacred
offerings; but you have appointed foreigners to act for you in keeping my charge
in my sanctuary. 9 Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart
and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter
my sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me
after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. 11 They
shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple,
and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the
sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them. 12
Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel
stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord
GOD, that they shall bear their punishment. 13 They shall not come near to me,
to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that
are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, and the consequences of the
abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge
of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it. 15 But the
levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary
when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister
to me; and they shall attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord
GOD. 16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who shall approach
my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter
the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen vestments; they shall have
nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court,
and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen
undergarments on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that
causes sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall
remove the vestments in which they have been ministering, and lay them in the
holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, so that they may not
communicate holiness to the people with their vestments. 20 They shall not shave
their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their
heads. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They
shall not marry a widow, or a divorced woman, but only a virgin of the stock of
the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They shall
teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them
how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a controversy they
shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They
shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and
they shall keep my sabbaths holy. 25 They shall not defile themselves by going
near to a dead person; for father or mother, however, and for son or daughter,
and for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26 After he has
become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 On the day that he goes
into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he
shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord GOD. 28 This shall be their
inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no holding in
Israel; I am their holding. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin
offering, and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be
theirs. 30 The first of all the first fruits of all kinds, and every offering of
all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests; you shall also
give to the priests the first of your dough, in order that a blessing may rest
on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or animal,
that died of itself or was torn by animals.
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When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside
for the LORD a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand
cubits long and twenty thousand cubits wide; it shall be holy throughout its
entire extent. 2 Of this, a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits
shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3 In
the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits
long and ten thousand wide, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy
place. 4 It shall be a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests,
who minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him; and it
shall be both a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5
Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide,
shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their holding for cities
to live in. 6 Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall
assign as a holding for the city an area five thousand cubits wide, and
twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.
7 And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and
the holding of the city, alongside the holy district and the holding of the
city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal
portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8 of the land.
It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no longer oppress my
people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their
tribes. 9 Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence
and oppression, and do what is just and right. Cease your evictions of my
people, says the Lord GOD. 10 You shall have honest balances, an honest ephah,
and an honest bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the
bath containing one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; the
homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.
Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall make a mina for
you. 13 This is the offering that you shall make: one-sixth of an ephah from
each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and
as the fixed portion of oil, one-tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like
the homer, contains ten baths); 15 and one sheep from every flock of two
hundred, from the pastures of Israel. This is the offering for grain offerings,
burnt offerings, and offerings of well-being, to make atonement for them, says
the Lord GOD. 16 All the people of the land shall join with the prince in Israel
in making this offering. 17 But this shall be the obligation of the prince
regarding the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the
festivals, the new moons, and the sabbaths, all the appointed festivals of the
house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, the burnt
offerings, and the offerings of well-being, to make atonement for the house of
Israel. 18 Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the
month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 19
The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the
doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the
posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You shall do the same on the seventh
day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you
shall make atonement for the temple. 21 In the first month, on the fourteenth
day of the month, you shall celebrate the festival of the passover, and for
seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince shall
provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin
offering. 23 And during the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a
burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on
each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 He shall
provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a
hin of oil to each ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the
month and for the seven days of the festival, he shall make the same provision
for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.
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Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that faces
east shall remain closed on the six working days; but on the sabbath day it
shall be opened and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2 The prince
shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand
by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his
offerings of well-being, and he shall bow down at the threshold of the gate.
Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be closed until evening. 3 The
people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD
on the sabbaths and on the new moons. 4 The burnt offering that the prince
offers to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a
ram without blemish; 5 and the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah,
and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he wishes to give,
together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 6 On the day of the new moon he shall
offer a young bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be
without blemish; 7 as a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull
and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes, together
with a hin of oil to each ephah. 8 When the prince enters, he shall come in by
the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way. 9 When the
people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed festivals, whoever
enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and whoever
enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not return
by way of the gate by which they entered, but shall go out straight ahead. 10
When they come in, the prince shall come in with them; and when they go out, he
shall go out. 11 At the festivals and the appointed seasons the grain offering
with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs
as much as one wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12 When
the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or offerings of
well-being as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be
opened for him; and he shall offer his burnt offering or his offerings of
well-being as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has
gone out the gate shall be closed. 13 He shall provide a lamb, a yearling,
without blemish, for a burnt offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning he
shall provide it. 14 And he shall provide a grain offering with it morning by
morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah, and one-third of a hin of oil to
moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the LORD; this is the ordinance
for all time. 15 Thus the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be
provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt offering. 16 Thus says the Lord
GOD: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance, it
shall belong to his sons, it is their holding by inheritance. 17 But if he makes
a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the
year of liberty; then it shall revert to the prince; only his sons may keep a
gift from his inheritance. 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance
of the people, thrusting them out of their holding; he shall give his sons their
inheritance out of his own holding, so that none of my people shall be
dispossessed of their holding. 19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which
was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the
priests; and there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them. 20 He said
to me, "This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and
the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to
bring them out into the outer court and so communicate holiness to the people."
21 Then he brought me out to the outer court, and led me past the four corners
of the court; and in each corner of the court there was a court-- 22 in the four
corners of the court were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; the
four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, around each of the four courts was
a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24
Then he said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who serve at the temple
shall boil the sacrifices of the people."
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Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there,
water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for
the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end
of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by
way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that
faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. 3 Going
on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits, and
then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured one
thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured
one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. 5 Again
he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the
water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be
crossed. 6 He said to me, "Mortal, have you seen this?" Then he led me back
along the bank of the river. 7 As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a
great many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 He said to me, "This water
flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it
enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. 9
Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there
will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and
everything will live where the river goes. 10 People will stand fishing beside
the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets;
its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But
its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12
On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for
food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear
fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary.
Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing." 13 Thus says the
Lord GOD: These are the boundaries by which you shall divide the land for
inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
14 You shall divide it equally; I swore to give it to your ancestors, and this
land shall fall to you as your inheritance. 15 This shall be the boundary of the
land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath,
and on to Zedad, 16 Berothah, Sibraim (which lies between the border of Damascus
and the border of Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of
Hauran. 17 So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enon, which is north
of the border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This shall be
the north side. 18 On the east side, between Hauran and Damascus; along the
Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as
Tamar. This shall be the east side. 19 On the south side, it shall run from
Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, from there along the Wadi of
Egypt to the Great Sea. This shall be the south side. 20 On the west side, the
Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be
the west side. 21 So you shall divide this land among you according to the
tribes of Israel. 22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for
the aliens who reside among you and have begotten children among you. They shall
be to you as citizens of Israel; with you they shall be allotted an inheritance
among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe aliens reside, there you shall
assign them their inheritance, says the Lord GOD.
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These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern
border, on the Hethlon road, from Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enon (which is on
the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north), and extending from the east
side to the west, Dan, one portion. 2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the
east side to the west, Asher, one portion. 3 Adjoining the territory of Asher,
from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. 4 Adjoining the territory
of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 5 Adjoining
the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion.
6 Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben,
one portion. 7 Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the
west, Judah, one portion. 8 Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side
to the west, shall be the portion that you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand
cubits in width, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the
east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the middle of it. 9 The portion
that you shall set apart for the LORD shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in
length, and twenty thousand in width. 10 These shall be the allotments of the
holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring twenty-five thousand
cubits on the northern side, ten thousand cubits in width on the western side,
ten thousand in width on the eastern side, and twenty-five thousand in length on
the southern side, with the sanctuary of the LORD in the middle of it. 11 This
shall be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept my
charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the
Levites did. 12 It shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy
portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites.
13 Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment
twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. The whole
length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and the width twenty thousand. 14
They shall not sell or exchange any of it; they shall not transfer this choice
portion of the land, for it is holy to the LORD. 15 The remainder, five thousand
cubits in width and twenty-five thousand in length, shall be for ordinary use
for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the middle of it shall be
the city; 16 and these shall be its dimensions: the north side four thousand
five hundred cubits, the south side four thousand five hundred, the east side
four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. 17
The city shall have open land: on the north two hundred fifty cubits, on the
south two hundred fifty, on the east two hundred fifty, on the west two hundred
fifty. 18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be ten
thousand cubits to the east, and ten thousand to the west, and it shall be
alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the
city. 19 The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate
it. 20 The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be twenty-five thousand
cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.
21 What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the
city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the twenty-five thousand cubits
of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the twenty-five
thousand cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall
belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple in the
middle of it, 22 and the property of the Levites and of the city, shall be in
the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall
lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin. 23 As for the
rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. 24
Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one
portion. 25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west,
Issachar, one portion. 26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east
side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. 27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun,
from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. 28 And adjoining the territory
of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of
Meribath-kadesh, from there along the Wadi of Egypt to the Great Sea. 29 This is
the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and
these are their portions, says the Lord GOD. 30 These shall be the exits of the
city: On the north side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by
measure, 31 three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of
Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32 On the
east side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates, the
gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33 On the south side,
which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure, three gates, the
gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34 On the west
side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates, the gate of
Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35 The circumference of the
city shall be eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the city from that time
on shall be, The LORD is There.
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