As I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing continually from it; and a brightness was around it, and in its core [there was] something like glowing [amber-colored] metal in the midst of the fire.

As they moved, I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of great [rushing] waters, like the voice of the Almighty, the sound of tumult like the noise of an army camp. Whenever they came to a stop, they lowered their wings.

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rushing sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place [above the expanse].”

And then I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings as they touched one another and [I heard] the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rushing sound.

You shall drink water by measure also, the sixth part of a hin; you shall drink daily at a set time.

He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of hair on my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol (image) of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.

Furthermore, He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great repulsive acts which the house of Israel is committing here, to drive Me far away from My sanctuary? But you will again see greater repulsive acts.”

Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard; and when I looked, behold, [there was] a hole in the wall.

So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun.

Then He said to me, “The wickedness (guilt) of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of blood and the city is full of perversion and injustice; for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; the Lord does not see [what we are doing].’

Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered; and a cloud [the Shekinah glory of God] filled the inner courtyard.

Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord moved upward from the cherubim to [rest over] the threshold of the temple; and the temple was filled with the cloud and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.

And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard [even] as far as the outer courtyard, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

so tell those who plaster it with whitewash, that it will fall! A flooding rain [of judgment] will come, and you, O [great] hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will tear the wall apart.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath, and there will be in My anger an overwhelming rain and great hailstones to destroy [that wall] in wrath.

And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing, nor were you rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths.

saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A great eagle (Nebuchadnezzar) with great wings, long pinions and a rich plumage of many colors came to Lebanon (Jerusalem) and took away the top of the cedar (Judah).

“There was [also] another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine (Zedekiah) bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him, away from the beds where it was planted, for him to water.

Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when they (the Babylonians) put up ramps and build siege walls to destroy many lives.

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time [in intensity], the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter which surrounds them [so that no one can escape, even by hiding in their inner rooms],

There is a conspiracy of her [false] prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured [human] life; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows among her.

The sound of a carefree crowd was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of a common sort, who put bracelets on the hands of the women (both sisters) and beautiful crowns on their heads.

‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
“Woe to the bloody city!
I will also make the pile [of wood] high.

“She has wearied Me with toil,
Yet her great rust has not left her;
Her thick rust and filth will not be burned away by fire [no matter how hot the flame].

I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes and chastisements and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance on them.”’”

Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

For thus says the Lord God, “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you and great waters cover you,

“Your rowers have brought you
Into great and deep waters;
The east wind has broken and shipwrecked you
In the heart of the seas.

By your great wisdom and by your trade
You have increased your riches and power,
And your heart is proud and arrogant because of your wealth;

Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers,
[Boastfully] declaring, ‘My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.’

Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army.

“A sword will come upon Egypt,
And anguish and trembling will be in Ethiopia (Cush),
When the slain fall in Egypt
And they [of Babylon] carry away her great mass of people and her riches
And her foundations are torn down.

On that day [swift] messengers will go from Me in ships to frighten the careless and unsuspecting Ethiopians, and there will be anguish and trembling in them as in the day of [judgment for] Egypt; for behold, it is coming!”

“I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in [great] anguish,
Thebes shall be torn open
And Memphis shall be in daily distress.

‘All the birds of the sky made their nests in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth [to their young],
And all of the great nations lived under its shadow.

‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended [downward] to great waters.

“I will also destroy all its cattle from beside its great waters;
And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore
Nor will the hoofs of the animals muddy them.

They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not practice them; for with their mouth they express loving devotion, but their heart goes after their (unlawful) gain.

“And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats [between the righteous and the unrighteous].

I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently clothed in full armor, a great horde with buckler (small shield) and [large] shield, all of them wielding swords;

You [Gog] be prepared; prepare yourself, you and all your hordes that are assembled around you, and be a guard and a lookout for them.

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (southern Spain), with all its young lions (villages) will say to you, ‘Have you come to take spoil? Have you assembled your hordes [of fighting men] to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?’”’

You will come from your place in the remote parts of the north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding horses, a great horde, and a mighty army;

In My zeal and in My blazing rage I declare that on that day there will most certainly be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,

With pestilence and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with Gog; and I will rain on him torrents of rain with [great] hailstones, fire and brimstone on his hordes and on the many nations that are with him.

“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Say to every kind of bird and to every animal of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice that I am slaughtering for you, as a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh and drink blood.

There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And windows were all around inside; and palm tree decorations were on each side pillar.

Then he brought me into the outer courtyard, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement made for the courtyard all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement.

Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court, a hundred cubits [both] on the east and on the north.

And as for the gate of the outer courtyard which faced the north he measured [both] its length and its width.

The inner courtyard had a gate opposite the gate on the north as well as the gate on the east; and he measured a hundred cubits from gate to gate.

The inner courtyard had a gate toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

Then the man (angel) brought me to the inner courtyard by the south gate; and he measured the south gate according to those same measurements.

Its porches faced the outer courtyard; and palm tree decorations were [carved] on its side pillars, and its stairway had eight steps.

He brought me into the inner courtyard toward the east, and he measured the gate; it measured the same as the others.

Its porches faced the outer courtyard; and palm tree decorations were [carved] on either side of its side pillars, and its stairway had eight steps.

Its side pillars faced the outer courtyard, and palm tree decorations were [carved] on them on either side. And its stairway had eight steps.

From the outside to the inner gate were chambers for the singers in the inner courtyard, one of which was beside the north gate, with its front toward the south, and one beside the south gate facing toward the north.

He measured the courtyard, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide, a perfect square; and the altar was in front of the temple.

Then he (the angel) brought me out into the outer courtyard, toward the north; and he led me to the [attached] chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building to the north.

Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner courtyard, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer courtyard, was gallery (balcony) corresponding to gallery in three stories.

for they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the [outer] courtyards; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.

And the outer wall, by the side of the chambers, toward the outer courtyard facing the chambers, was fifty cubits long.

For the length of the chambers which were in the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, while the length of those facing the temple was a hundred cubits.

Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer courtyard.

In the width of the wall of the courtyard toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, were chambers;

When the priests enter [the Holy Place], they shall not go out from the sanctuary into the outer court unless they lay there their garments in which they minister, for these are holy (set apart). They shall put on other garments before they approach that which is for the people.”

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard; and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the temple.

It shall be that when they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner courtyard and within the temple (house).

When they go out into the outer court, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off the garments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other clothing so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their [ceremonial] garments.

Nor shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.

On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” says the Lord God.

The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “The gate of the inner courtyard that faces east shall be shut during the six working days, but it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the New Moon.

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil (cook) the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard to transmit holiness to the people.”

Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me across to the four corners of the courtyard; and behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was a small courtyard.

In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courtyards, forty cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were the same size.

It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be a very great number of fish, because these waters go there so that the waters of the sea are healed and become fresh; so everything will live wherever the river goes.

And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it [at the banks of the Dead Sea]; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be dry places to spread nets. Their fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea.

“And this shall be the boundary of the land on the north side: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Zedad,

“The south side, southward, from Tamar [near the Dead Sea] shall extend as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook of Egypt and to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea. This is the south side toward the south.

“The west side shall be the Great [Mediterranean] Sea, from the south border to a point opposite Lebo-hamath [north of Mount Hermon]. This is the west side.

And beside the border of Gad, at the south side, southward, the border shall extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook [of Egypt], to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea.