And under their wings [were] {human hands} on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them [were as follows]:

And each {went straight forward}; {wherever the spirit went} they went, [and] {they did not turn as they went}.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It [was] moving to and fro between the living creatures, and {the fire was very bright} and lightning [was] going out from the fire.

When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not {veer at all as they went}.

And [the] Spirit came into me as he was speaking to me, and it set me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

"Son of man, I have appointed you [as] a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me.

And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it [as] a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be {under siege}, and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel.

And [as a] bread-cake of barley you shall eat it, and {with human excrement} you shall bake it before their eyes."

"And you, son of man, take for yourself a sword, sharp [as] {a barber's razor}. Take it for yourself, and you must cause [it] to pass over your head and over your beard, and you must take for yourself a set of scales for weighing, and you must divide them.

But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that [are] around her; for they rejected my regulations, and [as for] my statutes, they did not walk in them.

Therefore {as surely as I live}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, {Surely} because you have defiled my sanctuary with all of your vile idols and with all of your detestable things, {now indeed I} will reduce, and my eye will not take pity, and surely I will show no compassion.

When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send [in order] to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break {the supply of food} for you.

And I will give it into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked people of the earth as spoil, and they will defile it.

And he said to me, "Son of man, "{Do you see} what they [are] doing--great detestable things that the house of Israel [is] committing here [so as] to drive [me] from my sanctuary, and yet {you will see again} greater detestable things."

{And then} {as they were striking}, and I [was] left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! "[Will] you [be] destroying all of the remnant of Israel {while you pour out your rage} on Jerusalem?"

And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard {as far as} the outer courtyard; [it was] like the voice of God Shaddai {when he speaks}.

Their appearance {was the same for each of the four of them}, as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel.

It will not be as a pot to you, and [so] you would be in the midst of it as flesh, [for] at the border of Israel I will judge you.

And it happened [that] {as I was prophesying}, Pelatiahu the son of Benaiahu died! And I fell on my face, and I cried [with] a loud voice, and I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, you [are] making complete destruction [of] the remnant of Israel!"

"Son of man, your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, {who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem}, 'They are far from Yahweh, [therefore] to us this land was given as a possession.'

so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God.

Before their eyes, on your shoulder, you must lift up [the baggage] in the dusk, [and] your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you [as] a sign to the house of Israel."

And I did {just as} I was commanded; my baggage, like [the] baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself into the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought [the baggage] on [my] shoulder; I carried [it] before their eyes.

Say, 'I am your sign, [and] {just as} I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into captivity they will go.'

Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "I will put an end [to] this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel." ' But say to them, 'The days are near, and [also] the word of every vision.'

For I, Yahweh, I will speak what I will speak [as a] word, and it will be done. It will not prolong [itself] any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word and I will fulfill it!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "None of my words will [be] prolonged any longer that I speak [as] a word, and it will be fulfilled!" '" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am against your magic charm bands {with which you are ensnaring persons} as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you [are] ensnaring, [treating] persons as birds.

And I will tear off your veils, and I will deliver my people from your hand, and they will not any longer be in your hand as prey, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh.

For {each person} from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself {from following me} and brings up his idols into his heart and {places before himself} a stumbling block of his guilt, and [yet] he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer him myself.

so that the house of Israel will not go astray again {from me}, and they will not make themselves unclean again with all of their transgressions, and they will be for me a people, and I will be for them as God," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

[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.

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

and [if] Noah, Daniel, and Job [were] in the midst of her, {as surely as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "surely not son, surely not daughter will they save by their righteousness; they would save {themselves}."

Look! It is given to the fire as fuel. The fire will consume two of its ends, and its middle will be charred. Is it useful for anything?

And [as for] your birth, {on the day you were born} your umbilical cord was not cut, and {you were not thoroughly washed clean with water}, and {you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt}, and {you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth}.

And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey [with which] I fed you, then you set it {before them} as a {pleasing odor}, and so it was,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten, {as if your whorings were not enough}.

{when you built} your mound at [the] head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet you were not like a prostitute, [as you were] scorning [your] harlot's wages.

And it was the opposite with you from the [other] women in your whorings; {no one solicited you as a prostitute}. {You gave} a harlot's wages, and harlot's wages [were] not given to you, and [so] it was [just] the opposite.

{As surely as I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not [do] as you and your daughters did.

And [as for] your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state.

And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, {both the older and the younger}, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant.

{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{surely} in the place of the king {who made} him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him--in the midst of Babylon he will die.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: '{As I live}, {surely} my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head.

{As I live}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be {appropriate for you} to quote this proverb in Israel!

"Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "Repent and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you.

And [so] fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and [there] was not in it {a strong branch}, a scepter for ruling.'" This [is] a lament, and {it will be used as a lament}.

"Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "[Are] you coming to consult me? {As I live}, I will surely not allow myself to be consulted by you!" ' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

And treat my Sabbaths as holy, and they will be a sign between me and between you {that you may know} that I, Yahweh, [am] your God.'

And {when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children} through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until {today}, and will I let myself be consulted by you, house of Israel?" ' {As I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "I will not let myself be consulted by you!

"{As I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "{surely} with strong hand and with [an] outstretched arm and with {rage pouring forth} I will reign as king over you!

{Just as} I executed justice on your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, likewise I will execute justice on you!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

And I will purge the rebels from [among] you and the [ones] transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land {where they are living as aliens}, but into the land of Israel they will not come, and [then] you will know that I [am] Yahweh.

I will accept you as {a fragrant incense offering} when I bring you out from the peoples and I gather you from the lands [to] which you were scattered, and I will show myself holy among you before the eyes of the nations.

And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely in their eyes; {they have sworn oaths for themselves}. But he [will] bring [their] guilt to remembrance [so as] to seize them.

And [as for] you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with [the] time of [the] punishment of [the] end,

You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.'"

"Son of man, the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them [are as] bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, [even] [as] silver dross, silver [dross] they became!

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because all of you have become [as] silver dross, therefore look! I [am] gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem,

Now [as for] their names, the older [was] Oholah, and Oholibah [was] her sister. And {they became mine}, and they bore sons and daughters, and their names [are] Samaria [for] Oholah, and Jerusalem [for] Oholibah

And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her {just as} I turned from her sister.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You will drink the deep and wide cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; {the cup holds so much}!

For they committed adultery, and blood [is] on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me--they sacrificed them as food!

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Bring up against them an assembly, and make them as a thing of horror and as plunder.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe [to] the city of bloodguilt! A pot that [has] its rust in it; {its rust did not go out from it}. Bring it out {piece by piece}; {one is as good as another}.

And I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and I did in the morning {just as} I was commanded.

and you shall do {just as} I did: You shall not cover your [upper] lip, and you shall not eat [the] bread of {mourners}.

And Ezekiel will be to you as a sign; {everything that he did} you shall do; and when it comes you will know that I [am] the Lord Yahweh.

On that day your mouth shall be opened {at the arrival of the fugitive}, and you shall speak, and you shall not be silent [any] longer, and you shall be to them as a sign, and they will know that I am Yahweh."

therefore look! I [am] giving you to the people of the East as a possession, and they will set up their encampments in you, and they will make in you their dwelling places; {they themselves} will eat your fruit and {they themselves} will drink your milk.

And I will make Rabbah as a pasture of camels and the {Ammonites} as a haunt of flocks, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh." '"

therefore look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I will give you as plunder to the nations, and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will destroy you from the countries, and I will wipe you out, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh."

I will give it to the people of the East in addition to the {Ammonites} as a possession, so that the {Ammonites} will not be remembered among the nations.

It will become a place for spreading out dragnets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh. 'And it will become as plunder for the nations,

And you must say to Tyre, the one who sits at [the] entrance of the sea [as] the merchant of the peoples to the many coastlands, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Tyre, {you yourself said} "I [am] perfect {in beauty}!"

Your sail was fine linen with colorful weaving from Egypt {to serve as a banner for you}; blue and purple cloth from the coastlands of Cyprus was your awning.

The elders of Gebal and its {skilled men} were {among you} [as] the repairers of [the] seam of your boat; all of the ships of the sea and their mariners were {among you} to barter your wares.

The people of Dedan [were] trading [with] you, many coastlands [composed] the region of your {influence}; they brought back horns of ivory and ebony [as] your payment.

In the abundance of your trading, they filled the midst of you [with] violence, and you sinned; and I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I expelled you, [the] guardian cherub, from the midst of [the] stones of fire.

{All who know you} among the peoples are appalled over you; you have become [as] horrors, and {you shall cease to exist forever}." '"

And I will fling you [to] the desert, you and all the fish of your Nile streams. On the surface of the field you will fall; you will not be gathered, and you will not be assembled. To the animals of the field and to the birds of the heavens I will give you as food.

Of [all] the kingdoms it will be [the most] lowly, and it will not exalt itself again over the nations, and I will make them small [so as] not to rule over the nations.

[As] his wages that he worked for, I will give to him the land of Egypt, because they worked for me," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Then I will make their waters settle, and their rivers as the olive oil I will let flow," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

{This is} a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters [of] the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

"Son of man, speak to {your people}, and you must say to them, 'A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman,

And [as for] the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and {he does not blow} the horn, and the people [are] not warned, and [the] sword comes and it takes {their lives}, he will be taken through his guilt, but his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.'

Say to them, '{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{Surely I have no delight} in the death of the wicked, {except} in [the] wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil [ones], for why should you die, house of Israel?'

[for example], [the] wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores {stolen property}, he goes in the statutes of life [so as] not to do injustice--certainly he will live; he will not die.

"Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins on the soil of Israel [are] saying, 'Abraham was one [man], and he took possession of the land, and we [are] many; the land has been given for us as possession.'

"Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{As I live}, {surely} whoever [is] in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever [is] on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals to eat him, and whoever [is] in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague.

And they come to you {as people do}, and they sit {before you}, and my people hear your words, and they do not do them, for they [are] showing passion in their mouth, but their heart [is] going after ill-gotten gain.

And they were scattered {without} a shepherd, and they were as food for all the animals of the field [when] they were scattered.

"{As I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "{Surely} because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to all the animals of the field, since there was not a shepherd, [since] my shepherds [have] not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,'"

'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will {no longer} feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them."

And I will set up over them one shepherd, and he will feed them; [that is], my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be for them as a shepherd.

And I, Yahweh, I will be for them {as God}, and my servant David [will be] a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken.

Therefore {as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "Certainly to blood [guilt] I will prepare you and blood will pursue; {since} {you did not hate blood}, it will pursue you.

Therefore, {as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "so I will deal [with you] according to your anger and according to your jealousy that you did, because of your hatred against them, and I will make myself known among them when I judge you.