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Ezekiel
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Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month,
in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the
captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and
I saw visions of God.
In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year
of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel
the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the
river Chebar; and the hand of Yahweh was there on him.
I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a
great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around
it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the
midst of the fire.
Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures.
This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.
Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings.
Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was
like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished
brass.
They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four
sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings
thus:
their wings were joined one to another; they didn’t turn when
they went; each one went straight forward.
As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man;
and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side;
and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the
four of them also had the face of an eagle.
Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two
wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies.
Each one went straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they
went; they didn’t turn when they went.
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance
was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and
the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a
flash of lightning.
Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the
earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of
it.
The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl:
and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and
their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.
When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn’t
turn when they went.
As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of
them had their rims full of eyes all around.
When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and
when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the
wheels were lifted up.
Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit
to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit
of the living creature was in the wheels.
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood;
and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were
lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was
in the wheels.
Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of
an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth
over their heads above.
Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the
other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every
one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.
When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise
of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of
tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down
their wings.
There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads:
when they stood, they let down their wings.
Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of
a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire
stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the
appearance of a man on it above.
I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within
it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and
from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were
the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.
As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day
of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh.
When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one
that spoke. |
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1:1 The Hebrew word rendered
“God” is “Elohim.”
1:3 “Yahweh” is God’s proper
Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other
translations.
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Ezekiel 2 |
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He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak
with you.
The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my
feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.
He said to me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel,
to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and
their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very
day.
The children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I am sending you to
them; and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord
Yahweh.
They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for
they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there has been
a prophet among them.
You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of
their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do
dwell among scorpions: don’t be afraid of their words, nor be
dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or
whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; don’t be rebellious
like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which
I give you.
When I looked, behold, a hand was put forth to me; and, behold,
a scroll of a book was therein;
He spread it before me: and it was written within and without;
and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and
woe.
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2:4 The word translated “Lord”
is “Adonai.”
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Ezekiel 3 |
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He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this
scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll.
He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill
your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and
it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
He said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak
my words to them.
For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a
hard language, but to the house of Israel;
not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language,
whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to
them, they would listen to you.
But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will
not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are
obstinate and hard-hearted.
Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your
forehead hard against their foreheads.
As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: don’t
be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though
they are a rebellious house.
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall
speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.
Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and
speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether
they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of
a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Yahweh
from his place.
I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as
they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside
them, even the noise of a great rushing.
So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in
bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was
strong on me.
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by
the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there
overwhelmed among them seven days.
It happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh
came to me, saying,
Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel:
therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning
from me.
When I tell the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him
no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to
save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at your hand.
Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his
wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness,
and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he
shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die
in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not
be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.
Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous
not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he
took warning; and you have delivered your soul.
The hand of Yahweh was there on me; and he said to me, Arise, go
forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you.
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and behold, the
glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by the
river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
Then 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.
But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and
shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them:
and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth,
that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for
they are a rebellious house.
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall
tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him
hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a
rebellious house. |
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3:7 Literally, have a hard
forehead
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Ezekiel 4 |
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You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself,
and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem:
and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast
up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant
battering rams against it all around.
Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron
between you and the city: and set your face toward it, and it
shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This
shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the
house of Israel on it; according to the number of the
days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a
number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so you shall
bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your
right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah:
forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you.
You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your
arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it.
Behold, I lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one
side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your
siege.
Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and
lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and
make bread of it; according to the number of the days
that you shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days,
you shall eat of it.
Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels
a day: from time to time you shall eat it.
You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from
time to time you shall drink.
You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their
sight with dung that comes out of man.
Yahweh said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their
bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.
Then I said, Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, my soul has not been
polluted; for from my youth up even until now have I not eaten
of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals; neither
came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Then he said to me, Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for
man’s dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon.
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the
staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight,
and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and
in dismay:
that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with
another, and pine away in their iniquity. |
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Ezekiel 5 |
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You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a
barber’s razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head
and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the
hair.
A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the
city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall
take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and a
third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a
sword after them.
You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in your
skirts.
Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of
the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come
forth into all the house of Israel.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in
the midst of the nations, and countries are around her.
She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more
than the nations, and against my statutes more than the
countries that are around her; for they have rejected my
ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in
them.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent
more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked
in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have
done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you;
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am
against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in
the sight of the nations.
I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I
will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations.
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you,
and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute
judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to
all the winds.
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you
have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and
with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish
you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no
pity.
A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with
famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you; and a third
part shall fall by the sword around you; and a third part I will
scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath
toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall
know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have
accomplished my wrath on them.
Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the
nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by.
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I shall
execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful
rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;)
when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are
for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will
increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread;
and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall
bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you;
and I will bring the sword on you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it. |
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