I will bring the most wicked of the nations and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

Terror is coming! They will seek peace, but find none.

Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders.

The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with shuddering; the hands of the people of the land will tremble. Based on their behavior I will deal with them, and by their standard of justice I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord!"

He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing -- the great abominations that the people of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!"

He said to me, "You will see them practicing even greater abominations!"

He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!"

Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them."

And he will call in mine ears with a great voice, saying, Draw near, ye having oversight of the city, each the vessels of his destruction in his hand.

And behold, six men coming from the way of the highest gate which looking to the north, and each a weapon of smiting in pieces in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed with linen, an inkhorn of the scribe upon his loins: and they will come and stand by the altar of brass.

And the glory of the God of Israel came up from the cherub where he Was upon it, to the threshold of the house. And he will call to the man clothed with linen to whom the inkhorn of the scribe upon his loins.

And Jehovah will say to him, Pass through into the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and mark a mark upon the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning for all the abominations being done in her midst

The old man, the young man, and the virgin, and little ones, and women, ye shall slay to destruction: and every man which upon him the mark, ye shall not touch; and ye shall begin from my holy place. And they will begin upon the old men which are before the house

And he will say to them, Defile the house, and fill the enclosures with the wounded: go ye forth. And they went forth and struck in the city.

While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, "Ah, sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?"

And he will say to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah, great exceedingly, and the land will be filled with blood and the city being filled with wresting: for they said, Jehovah forsook the land, and Jehovah saw not

But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare them; I hereby repay them for what they have done."

And he will say to the man clothed with linen, and he will say, Go in between the wheel, underneath to the cherub, and fill thy fists with coals of fire from between the cherubs, and scatter over the city. And he will go in before mine eyes.

And the glory of Jehovah will rise from off the cherub over the threshold of the house, and the house will be filled with the cloud, and the enclosure was filled with the shining of the glory of Jehovah.

And it will be in his commanding the man clothed with linen, saying, Take the fire from between the wheel from between the cherubs; and he will go in and stand by the wheel.

And the cherub will stretch forth his hand from between the cherubs to the fire which is between the cherubs, and he will lift up and will give into the fists of him clothed with linen: and he will take and he went forth.

And there will be seen to the cherubs the form of a man's hand under their wings.

And their appearances one likeness to them four, as the wheel will be in the midst of the wheel.

In their going, upon their four sides they will go; they will not turn in their going, for to the place where the head will turn after it will they go; they will not turn in their going.

And the cherubs will be lifted up. This the living creature which I saw by the river Chebar.

And in the going of the cherubs, the wheels by them will go: and in the lifting up of the cherubs their wings to rise up from the earth, the wheels they also from beside them will not turn.

In their standing, they will stand: and in their rising, they will rise with them: for the spirit of life was in them:

And the glory of Jehovah went forth from off the threshold of the house, and it will stand over the cherubs.

And the cherubs will lift up their wings, and will rise from the earth before mine eyes: in their going forth and the wheels with them, and they will stand at the door of the eastern gate of the house of Jehovah; and the glory of the God of Israel over them from above.

And the likeness of their faces these faces which I saw upon the river Chebar, their appearance and themselves: they will go each over against his face.

And the spirit will lift me up and bring me to the east gate of the house of Jehovah looking to the east: and behold, in the door of the gate, twenty and five men; and I shall see in the midst of them Jaazaniah, son of Azur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, chiefs of the people.

And he will say to say to me, Son of man, these the men purposing vanity and counseling evil counsel in this city

And the spirit of Jehovah will fall upon me, and he will say to me, Say, Thus said Jehovah; Thus ye said, O house of Israel: and the risings of your spirit, I knew it.

Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: 'The corpses you have dumped in the midst of the city are the meat, and this city is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it.

You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,' declares the sovereign Lord.

But I will take you out of the city. And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you.

You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel.

Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!'"

Now it came about while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell face downward and cried out loudly, “Alas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come.

"Therefore say: 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.'

"When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.

I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies and I will give them tender hearts,

so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.

But as for those whose heart longs for and follows after their detestable things and their repulsive things [associated with idolatry], on their own head I will repay [them in full for] their [vile] conduct,” says the Lord God.

And the cherubs will lift up their wings, and the wheels with them; and the glory of the God of Israel over them from above.

And the glory of Jehovah will go up from the midst of the city, and stand upon the mountain which is from the east to the city.

And the spirit lifted me up, and it will bring me to Chaldea to the captivity, in a vision by the spirit of God. And the vision which I saw will go up from me.

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

"Therefore, son of man, pack up your belongings as if for exile. During the day, while they are watching, pretend to go into exile. Go from where you live to another place. Perhaps they will understand, although they are a rebellious house.

Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out at evening in their sight, as those going into exile.

And the word of Jehovah will be to me in the morning, saying,

Say to them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel within it.'

Say, 'I am an object lesson for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile and captivity.'

"The prince who is among them will raise his belongings onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.

But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans (but he will not see it), and there he will die.

All his retinue -- his attendants and his troops -- I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.

"Then they will know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among foreign countries.

But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

Then say to the people of the land, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says about the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in fright, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it.

The inhabited towns will be left in ruins and the land will be devastated. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days will go on and every vision shall fail?

Therefore tell them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: I hereby end this proverb; they will not recite it in Israel any longer.' But say to them, 'The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled.

For there will no longer be any false visions or flattering omens amidst the house of Israel.

For I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer. Indeed in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and accomplish it, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

"Behold, thou son of man: The house of Israel say in this manner, 'Tush, as for the vision that he hath seen, it will be many a day or it come to pass: It is far off yet, the thing that he prophesieth.'

Therefore say to them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer! The word I speak will come to pass, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for the false prophets who walk according to their own wrong inclinations and see nothing.

Ye went not up into the breaches, and ye will wall in the wall upon the house of Israel to stand in the war in the day of Jehovah.

They have seen vanity and lying divination, that say, Jehovah saith! and Jehovah hath not sent them; and they make them to hope that the word will be fulfilled.

Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD God. Because your words be vain, and ye seek out lies: Behold, I will upon you, sayeth the LORD.

My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council of my people, nor be written in the registry of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones will fall and a violent wind will break out.

When the wall has collapsed, people will ask you, "Where is the whitewash you coated it with?"

"'Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury.

I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, and you will know that I am the Lord.

I will vent my rage against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you, "The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more --

and say 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands on all their wrists and make headbands for heads of every size to entrap people's lives! Will you entrap my people's lives, yet preserve your own lives?

And will ye profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for morsels of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that listen to lying?

"'Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people's lives like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people's lives, which you hunt like birds.

I will tear off your headbands and rescue my people from your power; they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you will know that I am the Lord.'"

And there will come to me men from the old men of Israel, and sit before me.

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Any man of the house of Israel who takes his idols [of rebellion] into his heart, and puts the [vile] stumbling block of his wickedness and guilt [images of silver and gold] before his face, and yet comes to the prophet [to ask of him], I the Lord will answer him, [but I will answer him] in accordance with the number of his idols,

I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.'

For anyone of the house of Israel or among the strangers who immigrate to Israel who separates himself from Me, taking his idols into his heart, and puts right before his face the [vile] stumbling block of his wickedness and guilt, and [then] comes to the prophet to ask of Me for himself, I the Lord will answer him Myself.

I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

"'As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word -- I, the Lord, have made a fool of that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

They will bear their punishment; the punishment of the one who sought an oracle will be the same as the punishment of the prophet who gave it

so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor continue to defile themselves by all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

"Thou son of man, when the land sinneth against me and goeth forth in wickedness: I will stretch out mine hand upon it, and destroy all the provision of their bread, and send dearth upon them, to destroy man and beast in the land.

"Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals.

[even if] these three men [were] in the midst of it, {as surely as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "surely they will not save sons and daughters; {they themselves alone}, they will be saved, but the land will be desolation.