Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man.

But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words -- even though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions -- do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house!

I have made your forehead harder than flint -- like diamond! Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house."

Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, and speak to them -- say to them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says,' whether they pay attention or not."

I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, who lived by the Kebar River. I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days.

"When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.

So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I threw myself face down.

I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house.

Then for your part take an iron frying pan and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days for you -- 390 days. So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

The food you eat will be eight ounces a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.

And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half; you must drink it at fixed times.

And I said, "Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat has never entered my mouth."

because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.

A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.

Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy when I have fully vented my rage against them.

"I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.

You will be an object of scorn and taunting, a prime example of destruction among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.

In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out.

Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize how I was crushed by their unfaithful heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, "Ah!" because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.

The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them.

Violence has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left -- not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence.

The customer will no longer pay the seller while both parties are alive, for the vision against their whole crowd will not be revoked. Each person, for his iniquity, will fail to preserve his life.

The sword is outside; pestilence and famine are inside the house. Whoever is in the open field will die by the sword, and famine and pestilence will consume everyone in the city.

All of their hands will hang limp; their knees will be wet with urine.

They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all of their heads will be shaved bald.

They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's fury. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth was the obstacle leading to their iniquity.

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.

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!"

As I watched, I noticed a form that appeared to be a man. From his waist downward was something like fire, and from his waist upward something like a brightness, like an amber glow.

He stretched out the form of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue which provokes to jealousy was located.

The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God when he speaks.

When the Lord commanded the man dressed in linen, "Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim," the man went in and stood by one of the wheels.

As I watched, I noticed four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; the wheels gleamed like jasper.

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.

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.

Then a wind lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me.

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.'

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.

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.'"

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.'"

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.'"

They see delusion and their omens are a lie. They say, "the Lord declares," though the Lord has not sent them; yet they expect their word to be confirmed.

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.

"'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.

You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. You have put to death people who should not die and kept alive those who should not live by your lies to my people, who listen to lies!

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.

"'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.'"

"Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.

Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

"For this is what the sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments -- sword, famine, wild animals, and plague -- to Jerusalem to kill both people and animals!

Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem -- for everything I brought on it.

Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on?

No! It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything?

Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

"'I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, "Live!" I said to you as you lay there in your blood, "Live!"

"'Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing that you had reached the age for love. I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

"'But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty became his.

So see here, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut off your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed by your obscene conduct.

I will exhaust my rage on you, and then my fury will turn from you. I will calm down and no longer be angry.

So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.

so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them.

As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status.

"'For this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant.

Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.

Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent when I make atonement for all you have done, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

He took one of the seedlings of the land, placed it in a cultivated plot; a shoot by abundant water, like a willow he planted it.

"'There was another great eagle with broad wings and thick plumage. Now this vine twisted its roots toward him and sent its branches toward him to be watered from the soil where it was planted.

In a good field, by abundant waters, it was planted to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful vine.

"'Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'Will it prosper? Will he not rip out its roots and cause its fruit to rot and wither? All its foliage will wither. No strong arm or large army will be needed to pull it out by its roots.

so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.

But this one from Israel's royal family rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note -- he gave his promise and did all these things -- he will not escape!

I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me.

All the choice men among his troops will die by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken!

"What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel, "'The fathers eat sour grapes And the children's teeth become numb?'

and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. That man is righteous; he will certainly live, declares the sovereign Lord.

The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer for his father's iniquity, and a father will not suffer for his son's iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness.

None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live.

"But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.

"Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity.

They put him in a collar with hooks; they brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him to prison so that his voice would not be heard any longer on the mountains of Israel.

"'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by water. It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.

I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

I gave them my statutes and revealed my regulations to them. The one who carries them out will live by them!

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations (the one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out my rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them.

I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Treat my Sabbaths as holy and they will be a reminder of our relationship, and then you will know that I am the Lord your God."

"'But the children rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by carrying them out (the one who obeys them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness.

But I refrained from doing so, and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.