I was amazed to see a wind storm blow in from the north, consisting of a massive cloud and fire that was flashing back and forth, surrounded by bright light. From deep within the cloud, something was shining that appeared to have a color like bronze that had been placed in fire until it glowed.

Their wheels and their construction details looked like gold-colored beryl. Each wheel was identical in form to the others, and they appeared to have been constructed and designed as if one wheel were within another.

"Son of Man, I'm sending you to that rebellious people, the Israelis, who have rebelled against me the same way their ancestors did. And they're still rebels to this very day!

"Now as for you, Son of Man, never be afraid of them or of anything they have to say, because being with them will be like settling down to live among briers, thorn bushes, and scorpions! Don't be afraid of anything they have to say, and don't be awed by their appearance, since they are a rebellious group.

You are to tell them whatever I have to say to them, whether they listen or not, since they are rebellious."

Then he told me, "Son of Man, go to the house of Israel and tell them what I have to say to them,

This isn't a large group of people whose speech is unintelligible to you or whose language is difficult for you to comprehend. Frankly, if I had sent you to that kind of people, they would certainly have listened to you!

If you warn the wicked person, and he doesn't repent of his wickedness or of his wicked behavior, he'll die in his sin, but you will have saved your own life.

If you warn the righteous person, so that he doesn't commit sin, then he'll live, since he had been warned. And you will have saved your life."

When you have completed this, you are to sleep on your right side, symbolically bearing the iniquity of Judah for 40 days. Each day that I've assigned to you represents one year.

As a result, Jerusalem will become an insult, an object of taunt, an example of chastisement, and a useless waste to all the nations that surround you when I carry out my sentence against you in my anger, my burning rage, and my burning rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken it.

I'll send arrows of severe famine in their direction, meant for destruction, which I'll shoot, intending to destroy them. I'll make you have more and more famines that will attack you, and I'll disrupt your source of food.

"I'll send famine and wild beasts against you that will rob you of your children. Pestilence and bloodshed will devastate you when I'll declare war on you. I, the LORD, have spoken."

I'll leave a remnant among you those who will escape the sword when I'll have scattered you throughout the earth.

Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they'll be taken captives. I've been crushed by their unfaithful hearts that have turned against me.

I won't be showing pity or compassion. I'll repay you according to your behavior while your detestable practices remain among you. And you'll know that I, the LORD, have been attacking you.'"

So as for me, I'm not going to show pity, and I won't look in their direction with mercy. I'm repaying them for what they have done."

Then I noticed the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case by his side as he brought back this message: "I've done as you have commanded me."

"Son of Man, your brothers, your other relatives, your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel are the people to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "They've abandoned the LORD. This land was given to us for an inheritance.'"

"Therefore you are to say, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm going to gather you from among the nations, assembling you from the lands among which you have been dispersed. I'll give you the land of Israel.

"Son of Man, what's this proverb you have concerning Israel's land that says, "The days pass slowly and every vision ends in nothing.'?

Israel, your prophets have become like foxes among ruins.

You've profaned me among my people for a handful of barley and a morsel of bread. You're causing people to die who shouldn't have to die, and you're causing people to live who shouldn't survive, when you deceive my people who tend to listen to lies."

"Son of Man, these men have taken idols into their hearts. They've placed the stumbling block that is their own iniquity right in front of their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?

I'll do this in order to capture the hearts of Israel's house who have become alienated from me due to all of their idols."'"

"Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I'll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel.

to punishment. They may have escaped one fire, but the coming fire will burn them up completely, and they will know that I am the LORD, when I set myself in opposition to them

"As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "your sister Sodom and her daughters didn't do what you and your daughters have done.

Then you will remember, be ashamed, and you won't open your mouth anymore due to humiliation when I will have made atonement for you for everything that you've done,' declares the Lord GOD."

The fugitives of his troops will die by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the four winds. Then you'll know that I, the LORD, have spoken."

Then all the trees of the fields will know that I, the LORD, bring down the lofty tree and exalt the lowly tree. I dry up the green tree and cause the dry tree to bud. I the LORD have spoken this, and I will fulfill it."

"Why do you cite this proverb when you talk about Israel's land: "The fathers eat sour grapes but it's their children's teeth that have become numb.'

if he doesn't eat at mountain shrines, and doesn't look to the idols that have been erected in Israel's house, if he doesn't defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her time of menstrual separation,

"I'll cause you to pass under the rod until I will have brought you into the bond of the covenant.

"When I will have brought you from among the people and have gathered you from the lands where you were scattered, I'll accept you as a pleasing aroma. I'll reveal my holiness among you, and the entire world will see it.

Then you'll know that I am the LORD, when I will have dealt with you for the benefit of my own reputation and not according to your evil attitudes or corrupt practices, you house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.

Then everyone will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it, because it won't be extinguished."'"

Then everyone will know that I am the LORD, who unsheathed my sword, and who won't have to unsheathe it again."'

"Cry and wail, you Son of Man! It's headed against my people. It's also against all the princes of Israel, who have been tossed to the sword, along with my people. So it's time to grieve like you mean it,

I will also clap my hands; then my anger will subside. I, the LORD have spoken it."

When they see empty visions about you while they're divining lies for you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked, who are fatally wounded, whose days have come, their time for punishment.

You'll be fuel for the conflagration. Your blood will be spilled throughout the land. You won't be remembered anymore, now that I, the LORD, have spoken."

"""You're guilty because of the blood that you've shed. You were defiled by the idols that you've made. You've caused your judgment day to draw near and have even come to the end of your life. Therefore, I've made you an object of derision among the nations and to other lands.

"""You have despised my sacred things and profaned my Sabbaths.

Can your heart stand up to this? Can your hands remain strong when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will fulfill this.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, "Because all of you have become dross, watch out! I'm going to gather all of you at the center of Jerusalem,

Her priests have violated my Law and profaned my sacred things. They didn't differentiate between what's sacred and what's common. They didn't instruct others to discern clean from unclean things. They refused to keep my Sabbaths.

They've gone to her, like men do, to have sex with a prostitute. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those licentious women.

""I, the LORD have spoken. It will happen, because I'm going to do it. I won't hold back, have compassion, or change my mind. They'll judge you according to your ways and deeds,' declares the Lord GOD."

Tell the Ammonites: "Listen to a message from the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you have said, "Aha!' about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it became desolate, and about the households of Judah when they went into exile,

and it will become a place where nets will be spread out right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Because I have declared this to happen,' declares the Lord GOD, "Tyre will be treated as the spoils of war by the invading nations.

I'll turn you into bare rock, and your city will become a place to spread nets. You will never be built again, because I the LORD have decreed this,' declares the Lord GOD."

I'll make sure that you go straight to the Pit, into the lowest part of the earth, where you'll be with people who lived in ancient times. You'll keep company there with the dead, who have gone into the Pit. As a result, your city won't be inhabited. Meanwhile, I will display my glory in the land of the living.

"Because you have so much to sell and are so rich, Damascus has been your trading partner, exchanging wine from Helbon, unbleached wool,

But your rowers have brought you into dangerous waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the ocean!

"But now it's your time to be wrecked at the bottom of the sea! Your products and your workers have sunk, and so have you!

"Son of Man, tell Tyre's Commander-in-Chief, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because your heart is arrogant, and because you keep saying, "I have taken my seat, I am a god, seated in God's seat right in the middle of the sea,' and because you're a man, and not a god, even though you pretend that you have a god-like heart"

By your great wisdom, by your skills in trading you have amassed wealth for yourself and your heart has become arrogant because of your wealth."

Is that when you'll say, "I'm God' to the face of those who will be killing you? After all, you're a man, and have never been a god, especially when you're under the control of those who will defile you!

You will die a death fit for the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners." "for I have said it will be so,' declares the LORD."

"Then everyone living in Egypt will know that I am the LORD, because they have been an unreliable ally to the house of Israel.

"Because this is what the LORD says: "At the end of 40 years I'll gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they have been scattered.

"Ethiopia, Libya, descendants of Lud, all those who have mixed themselves, and Libya along with everyone in the land of Israel who is in league with them will die violently."'"

I'll dry up their waterways, and evil men will sell off the land. I'm going to make that land desolate, along with everything that's in it, and I'm going to use foreigners to do it. I, the LORD have spoken!'"

I turned it over to the leader of those nations, who dealt with it thoroughly. I have driven it away because of its wickedness.

Foreign dictators have trimmed it down to size and abandoned it. Its branches have fallen off on mountains and in all the valleys. Its boughs have broken off in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth have moved out of its shade and abandoned it.

As a result, none of its watered trees will grow tall, their tops will never reach to the clouds, and they'll never grow so high again, because all of them have been appointed to death in the world beneath where human beings go, that is, down to the Pit.'"

So tell me now, which of the trees of Eden compares to you in glory or greatness? Nevertheless, you'll be brought down, along with those trees of Eden, to the earth below. You'll lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who have been killed in war. Pharaoh and all his gang will be just like this!' declares the Lord GOD."

"Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him, "You may have called yourself a lion among nations, but you're a monster at sea. You thrash about in your rivers, muddy the water with your feet, and relieve yourself in the rivers.'

""I'll bring distress to the hearts of many nations when I destroy you among nations whose territories you have not known.

"Mighty leaders will address them and those who assist them right out of the middle of Sheol: "They've come down and will lie still, these uncircumcised people who have died violently.'

Her grave will be set in the remotest part of the Pit, surrounded by those who accompanied her. All of them will have been killed, executed violently, who spread terror throughout the land of the living.

"Elam will be there. Its hordes will surround Elam's grave. All of them have been killed. They died violently, and they have descended uncircumcised into the world below after having spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit.

They have prepared a bed for her and for her hordes that surround her graves. All of them are uncircumcised, having been killed violently, because they had spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit and will take their place among the dead.

"Edom will be there, along with its kings and princes who despite all their power have been killed violently. They, too, are lying dead, along with the uncircumcised; that is, with those who descend into the Pit.

"All of the princes from the North are there, along with the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame to join those who have been killed because of all the terror they caused by their military might. They lie dead, uncircumcised, with those who have been killed violently. They will bear their shame, along with those who descend into the Pit.

"because he spread terror throughout the land of the living. Therefore he'll be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, who have been killed violently; that is, Pharaoh and all of his hordes," declares the Lord GOD.

After all, he heard the alarm sounding, but did not heed the warning, so his shed blood will remain his own responsibility. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved himself.

However, if you warn the wicked to turn from his behavior and he does not do so, he will die in his guilt, and you will have saved yourself."

"Tell them, "As certainly as I'm alive and living,' declares the Lord GOD, "I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?'"

As far as they are concerned, you sing romantic songs with a beautiful voice and play a musical instrument well. They'll listen to what you have to say, but they won't put it into practice!

"Woe to you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves and not the sheep. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep? You're eating the best parts, clothing yourselves with the wool, and slaughtering the home-grown sheep without having fed the sheep!

"Since they have no shepherd, they have been scattered around and have become prey for all sorts of wild animals. How scattered they are!

My sheep have gone wandering on all of the mountains, on all of the hills, and throughout every high place in the whole world, with no one to look for them or go out in search of them.

"As certainly as I'm alive and living, my sheep have truly become victims, food for all of the wild animals because there are no shepherds. My shepherds did not go searching for my flock. Instead, the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they would not feed!'

I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.' I, the LORD, have spoken this.

I'll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the LORD, when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them.

I'm going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community.

therefore as I'm alive and living," declares the Lord GOD, "I'm turning you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will certainly overtake you, since you never have hated shedding blood. That's why bloodshed will certainly pursue you.

"Because you have claimed, "These two nations and these two lands are going to belong to me, and we will take possession of them, even though the LORD is there,'

That's how you'll know that I, the LORD, have heard every loathsome, reviling thing that you've had to say against the mountains of Israel, such as, "They're desolate, and we'll eat them for dinner!'

"Therefore listen to what the Lord GOD has to say, you mountains of Israel: "This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains, to the hills, to the waterways, to the valleys, to the desolate wastelands, and to the abandoned cities that have become an object of derision to the mountains that surround you:

""Because this is what the Lord GOD says: "Motivated by my burning zealousness, I have spoken against the rest of the surrounding nations, including Edom, who confiscated my land, taking possession of it with joyful enthusiasm and with animal-like malice, in order to plunder Israel's pastures.'

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "I hereby raise my hand to swear this oath: the nations that surround you will have their own mockery to endure!

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because some have been saying to you, "You mountains have been devouring human beings and leaving people childless,"

"Therefore tell the house of Israel, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "I'm not about to act for your sake, you house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation, which you have been defiling throughout all of the nations where you've gone.

I'm going to affirm my great reputation that has been defiled among the nations (that is, that you have defiled in their midst), and those people will learn that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I affirm my holiness in front of their very eyes.

Then the surviving people that live around you will learn that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruins and have cultivated these pastures that used to be desolate wastelands. I, the LORD, have spoken this, and I'm going to bring it about!'

Then he ordered me, "Prophesy to the Spirit, Son of Man. Tell the Spirit, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Come from the four winds, you Spirit, and breathe into these people who have been killed, so they will live."'"

I'm going to place my Spirit in you all, and you will live. I'll place you all into your land, and you'll learn that I, the LORD, have been speaking and doing this,' declares the LORD.'"