In the fire were what looked like four living beings. In their appearance they had human form,

but each had four faces and four wings.

They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left and also the face of an eagle.

Their wings were spread out above them; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies.

Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering its body.

He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front and back; written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.

not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand -- surely if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you!

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.

"As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor. Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off.

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.

Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.

Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side.

When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved; in the direction the head would turn they would follow without turning as they moved,

Each of the cherubim had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings.

As for the form of their faces, they were the faces whose appearance I had seen at the Kebar River. Each one moved straight ahead.

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.

So I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.

I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.

"'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.

I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution with them.

At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced your beauty when you spread your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity.

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.

When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment.

"'See here -- this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help the poor and needy.

Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die.

Its boughs were strong, fit for rulers' scepters; it reached up into the clouds. It stood out because of its height and its many branches.

On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

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.

I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them -- a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

Yet I had pity on them and did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of 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.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: He shakes arrows, he consults idols, he examines animal livers.

She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her.

"Her sister Oholibah watched this, but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister.

When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, I was disgusted with her, just as I had been disgusted with her sister.

"For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to deliver you over to those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted.

They had sex with her as one does with a prostitute. In this way they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women.

Set the empty pot on the coals, until it becomes hot and its copper glows, until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot is consumed.

"Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

"'Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,

Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the pit; they are placed among the dead.

but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death.

He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.

Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak.

They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast.

Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.

After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely.

The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile due to their iniquity, for they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies; all of them died by the sword.

According to their uncleanness and rebellion I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord."

I saw a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was a measuring stick 10? feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall as 10? feet, and its height as 10? feet.

There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate; the three had the same measurement, and the jambs on either side had the same measurement.

Its alcoves, three on each side, and its jambs and porches had the same measurement as the first gate; 87? feet long and 43? feet wide.

Its windows, its porches, and its decorative palm trees had the same measurement as the gate which faced east. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch was in front of them.

Then he led me toward the south. I saw a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and its porches; they had the same dimensions as the others.

There were seven steps going up to it; its porches were in front of them. It had decorative palm trees on its jambs, one on either side.

The inner court had a gate toward the south; he measured it from gate to gate toward the south as 175 feet.

Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate; it had the same dimensions as the others.

Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was 87? feet and its width 43? feet.

Its porches faced the outer court, and decorative palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.

Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side. He measured the gate; it had the same dimensions as the others.

Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was 87? feet and its width 43? feet.

Its porches faced the outer court, it had decorative palm trees on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.

Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others --

its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches. It had windows all around it; its length was 87? feet and its width 43? feet.

Its jambs faced the outer court, and it had decorative palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

I saw that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full measuring stick of 10? feet high.

It was made with cherubim and decorative palm trees, with a palm tree between each cherub. Each cherub had two faces:

The outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary each had a double door.

Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other.

For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones.

were the chambers which were toward the south. There was an opening at the head of the passage, the passage in front of the corresponding wall toward the east when one enters.

Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate which faces east and measured all around.

He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy and common places.

"And these are the measurements of the altar: Its base is 1? feet high, and 1? feet wide, and its border nine inches on its edge. This is to be the height of the altar.

Again he measured 1,750 feet and it was a river I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.

When I had returned, I noticed a vast number of trees on the banks of the river, on both sides.