It chanced, in the thirtieth year, the fifth day of the fourth Month, that I was among the prisoners by the river of Chebar: where the heavens opened, and I saw a vision of God.

At the same time came the word of the LORD unto Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the water of Chebar, where the hand of the LORD came upon him.

that whether they be obedient or no - for it is a froward household - they may know yet that there hath been a Prophet among them.

"Therefore, thou son of man, fear them not; neither be afraid of their words: for they shall rebel against thee, and despise thee. Yea, thou shalt dwell among scorpions. But fear not their words, be not abashed at their looks: for it is a froward household.

See that thou speak my words unto them, whether they be obedient or not, for they are obstinate.

Therefore, thou son of man, obey thou all things, that I say unto thee, and be not thou stiffnecked, like as they are a stiffnecked household. Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee."

After this said he unto me, "Thou son of man, eat that, whatsoever it be: Yea, eat that closed book, and go thy way, and speak unto the children of Israel."

and said unto me, "Thou son of man, thy belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with the book, that I give thee." Then did I eat the book and it was, in my mouth, sweeter than honey.

so that thy forehead shall be harder than an Adamant or flint stone: that thou mayest fear them the less, and be less afraid of them, for they are a froward household."

I heard also the noise of the wings of the beasts, that rushed one against another; yea, and the rattling of the wheels that were by them - which rushing and noise was very great.

And so in the beginning of the Month Abib, I came to the prisoners that dwelt by the water of Chebar and remained in that place, where they were: And so continued I among them seven days, being very sorry.

"Now if a righteous man go from his righteousness, and do the thing that is evil: I will lay a stumbling block before him, and he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning - Yea, die shall he in his own sin, so that the virtue which he did before shall not be thought upon, but his blood will I require of thine hand.

So when I had risen up, and gone forth into the field: Behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like as I saw it afore, by the waters of Chebar. Then fell I down upon my face,

Behold, O thou son of man, there shall chains be brought for thee, to bind thee withal, so that thou shalt not escape out of them.

And I will make thy tongue cleave so to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and not be as a chider with them: for it is an obstinate household.

Moreover, take an iron pan, and set it betwixt thee and the city instead of an iron wall. Then set thy face toward it, besiege it, and lay ordinance against it, to win it. This shall be a token unto the house of Israel.

And when they have no more bread nor water, one shall be destroyed with another, and famish away for their wickedness."

For in thee the fathers shall be fain to eat their own sons, and the sons their own fathers. Such a court will I keep in thee, and the whole remnant will I scatter into all the winds.

One third part within thee shall die of the pestilence and of hunger: Another third part shall be slain down round about thee with the sword: The other third part, that remaineth, will I scatter abroad toward all the winds, and draw out the sword after them.

Moreover, I will make thee waste and abhorred before all the Heathen that dwell about thee, and in the sight of all them that go by thee:

so that when I punish thee in my wrath, in mine anger, and with the plague of my hot displeasure, thou shalt be a very abomination, shame, a gasping and wondering stock among the Heathen that lie about thee. Even I, the LORD, have spoken it: and it shall come to pass.

When I shoot among them the perilous darts of hunger, which shall be but death: Yea, therefore shall I shoot them, because I will destroy you. I will increase hunger, and diminish all the provision of bread among you.

The cities shall be desolate, the hill chapels laid waste; your altars destroyed, and broken; your gods cast down, and taken away, your temples laid even with the ground, your own works clean rooted out.

And they that escape from you, shall think upon me among the Heathen, where they shall be in captivity. As for that whorish and unfaithful heart of theirs, wherewith they run away from me, I will break it: Yea, and put out those eyes of theirs, that committed fornication with their idols. Then shall they be ashamed, and displeased with their selves, for the wickedness and abominations, which they have done:

The hour is come against thee that dwellest in the land. The time is at hand; the day of sedition is hard by: and no glad tidings upon the mountains.

malicious violence is grown up, and the ungodly waxen to a staff. None of them shall remain over, none of their riches, not one of their seed: and no lamentation shall be made for them.

The time cometh, the day draweth nigh. Whoso buyeth, let him not rejoice: he that selleth, let him not be sorry. For why? Trouble shall come in the midst of all rest:

so that the seller shall not come again to the buyer, for neither of them both shall live. For the vision shall come so greatly over all, that it shall not be hindered: No man also with his wickedness shall be able to save his own life.

The sword shall be without; pestilence and hunger within: so that whoso is in the field shall be slain with the sword; and he that is in the city shall perish with hunger and pestilence.

"And such as escape and flee from among them, shall be upon the hills, like as the doves in the field: every one shall be afraid, because of his own wickedness.

All hands shall be let down, and all knees shall be weak as the water;

they shall gird themselves with sack cloth, fear shall fall upon them. Their faces shall be confounded, and their heads bald;

their silver shall lie in the streets, and their gold shall be despised. Yea, their silver and gold may not deliver them in the day of the fearful wrath of the LORD. They shall not satisfy their hungry souls, neither fill their empty bellies therewith: For it is become their own decay through their wickedness:

because they made thereof not only costly Jewels for their pomp and pride, but also abominable images and Idols. For this cause will I make them to be abhorred.

Moreover, I will give it into the hands of the strangers to be spoiled: and to the wicked for to be robbed, and they shall destroy it.

My face will I turn from them, my treasury shall be defiled: for the thieves shall go into it, and suspend it.

One mischief and sorrow shall follow another, and one rumor shall come after another: Then shall they seek visions in vain at their Prophets. The law shall be gone from the priests, and wisdom from the elders.

The king shall mourn, the princes shall be clothed with heaviness, and the hands of the people in the land shall tremble for fear. I will do unto them after their own ways, and according to their own judgments will I judge them: to learn them for to know, that I am the LORD."

This similitude stretched out a hand, and took me by the hairy locks of my head, and the spirit lift me up betwixt heaven and earth: And God brought me in a vision to Jerusalem, into the court of the inward port that lieth toward the north. There stood an image, with whom he that hath all things in his power was very wroth.

And he said furthermore unto me, "Thou son of man, seest thou what these do? Seest thou the great abominations that the house of Israel commit in this place? Which ought not to be done in my sanctuary: But turn thee about, and thou shalt see yet greater abominations."

Then came there six men out of the street of the upper port toward the north, and every man a weapon in his hand to the slaughter. There was one amongst them, that had on him a linen raiment, and a writer's inkhorn by his side. These went in, and stood beside the brazen altar:

for the glory of God was gone away from the Cherub, and was come down to the threshold of the house. And he called the man that had the linen raiment upon him, and the writer's inkhorn by his side,

and the LORD said unto him, "Go thy way through the city of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of them that mourn and are sorry for all the abominations that be done therein."

And behold, the man that had the linen raiment upon him, and the writer's inkhorn by his side, told all the matter how it happened, and said, "LORD, as thou hast commanded me, so have I done."

I saw also four wheels beside the Cherubims, so that by every Cherub there stood a wheel. And the wheels were, to look upon, after the fashion of the precious stone of Tharsis,

This is the beast that I saw under the God of Israel, by the water of Chebar. And I perceived, that it was the Cherubims.

Now the figure of their faces was even as I had seen them, by the water of Chebar, and so was the countenance of them: Every one in his going went straight forward.

saying, 'Tush, there is no destruction at hand, let us build houses: this Jerusalem is the cauldron, and we be the flesh.'

Ye shall be slain in all the coasts of Israel. I will be avenged of you: to learn you for to know that I am the LORD.

This city shall not be your cauldron, neither shall ye be the flesh therein: but in the coasts of Israel will I punish you,

"Thou son of man: thy brethren, thy kinsfolk, and the whole house of Judah which dwell at Jerusalem, say, 'They be gone far from the LORD, but the land is given us in possession.'

Tell them also, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: I will gather you again out of the nations, and bring you from the countries where ye be scattered, and will give you the land of Israel again:

that ye may walk in my commandments, and keep mine ordinances, and do them. That ye may be my people, and I your God.

But the wind took me up, and in a vision which came by the spirit of God it brought me again into Chaldea among the prisoners. Then the vision that I had seen vanished away from me.

Therefore, O thou son of man, make thy gear ready to flit, and go forth by fair daylight, that they may see. Yea, even in their sight shalt thou go from thy place to another place: if peradventure they will consider that they be an unobedient household.

Thy gear that thou hast made ready to flit withal, shalt thou bear out by fair daylight, that they may see: and thou thyself shalt go forth also at even in their sight, as a man doth when he goeth forth to flight.

Now as the Lord commanded me, so I did: the gear that I had made ready, brought I out by day. At even I brake down a hole through the wall with my hand: and when it was dark, I took the gear upon my shoulders and bare them out in their sight.

As for all his helpers, and all his Hosts that be about him, I will scatter them toward all the winds, and draw out a sword after them.

And unto the people of the land, speak thou on this manner: 'Thus sayeth the LORD God to them that dwell in Jerusalem, and to the land of Israel: Ye shall eat your bread with sorrow, and drink your water with heaviness. Yea, the land with the fullness thereof shall be laid waste, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

And the cities that now be well occupied, shall be void, and the land desolate: that ye may know how that I am the LORD.'"

Tell them therefore, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: I will make that byword to cease, so that it shall no more be commonly used in Israel.' But say this unto them, 'The days are at hand, that everything which hath been prophesied, shall be fulfilled.

There shall no vision be in vain, neither any prophecy fail among the children of Israel:

For it is I, the LORD, that speak it: and whatsoever I, the LORD, speak, it shall be performed, and not be slacken in coming. Yea even in your days, O ye froward household, will I devise something and bring it to pass, sayeth the LORD God.'"

"Behold, thou son of man: The house of Israel say in this manner, 'Tush, as for the vision that he hath seen, it will be many a day or it come to pass: It is far off yet, the thing that he prophesieth.'

Therefore say unto them, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: All my words shall no more be slack. Look what I speak, that same shall come to pass, sayeth the LORD.'"

Thus sayeth the LORD God: Woe be unto those foolish prophets that follow their own spirit, and speak where they see nothing.

Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD God. Because your words be vain, and ye seek out lies: Behold, I will upon you, sayeth the LORD.

Mine hands shall come upon the prophets that look out vain things and preach lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, nor written in the book of the house of Israel, neither shall they come in the land of Israel: that ye may know how that I am the LORD God.

So shall the wall come down. Shall it not then be said unto you, 'Where is now the mortar, that ye daubed it withal?'

and say, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Woe be unto you, that sew pillows under all armholes, and bolsters under the heads both of young and old, to catch souls withal. For when ye have gotten the souls of my people in your captivity, ye promise them life,

Your bolsters also will I tear in pieces, and deliver my people out of your hand: so that they shall come no more in your hands to be spoiled, and ye shall know, that I am the LORD.

There resorted unto me certain of the elders of Israel, and sat down by me.

Therefore speak unto them, and say, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Every man of the house of Israel that beareth his Idols in his heart, purposing to stumble in his own wickedness, and cometh to a prophet, to enquire anything at me by him: unto that man will I the LORD myself give answer, according to the multitude of his idols:

that the house of Israel may be snared in their own hearts, because they be clean gone from me, for their Idols' sakes.'

Wherefore, tell the house of Israel, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Be converted, forsake your idols, and turn your faces from all your abominations.

For every man, whether he be of the house of Israel, or a stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which departeth from me, and carrieth idols in his heart, purposing to go still stumbling in his own wickedness, and cometh to a Prophet, for to ask counsel at me through him: unto that man will I the LORD give answer, by mine own self.

I will set my face against that man. And will make him to be an example for others; yea, and a common byword. And will root him out of my people, that he may know how that I am the LORD.

And if that Prophet be deceived, when he telleth him a word: then I the LORD myself have deceived that Prophet, and will stretch forth mine hand upon him, to root him out of my people of Israel:

and they both shall be punished for their wickedness. According to the sin of him that asketh, shall the sin of the Prophet be:

that the house of Israel be led no more from me through error, and be no more defiled in their wickedness: but that they may be my people, and I their God, sayeth the LORD God.'"

If I bring noisome beasts into the land to waste it up, and it be so desolate that no man may go therein for beasts;

if these three men also were in the land, as truly as I live, sayeth the LORD God, they shall save neither sons nor daughters, but be only delivered themselves: and as for the land, it shall be waste.

and if these three men were therein: As truly as I live, sayeth the LORD God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only be saved themselves.

yet shall there be a remnant saved therein, which shall bring forth their sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way, and what they take in hand, and ye shall be comforted, as touching all the plagues that I have brought upon Jerusalem.

Do men take wood of it, to make any work withal? Or may there a nail be made of it, to hang anything upon?

Behold, it is cast into the fire to be burnt; the fire consumeth both the ends of it, the midst is burnt to ashes. Is it mete then for any work? No.

Seeing then, that it was mete for no work, being whole: much less may there anything be made of it, when the fire hath consumed and burnt it.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD God: Like as I cast the vine into the fire for to be burnt, as other trees of the wood: Even so will I do with them that dwell in Jerusalem,

"'Then came I by thee, and saw thee trodden down in thine own blood, and said unto thee, 'Thou shalt be purged from thine own blood; from thine own blood, I say, shalt thou be cleansed.'

Now when I went by thee, and looked upon thee: behold, thy time was come; yea, even the time to vow thee. Then spread I my clothes over thee, to cover thy dishonesty: Yea, I made an oath unto thee, and married myself with thee, sayeth the LORD God; and so thou becamest mine own.

"'But thou hast put confidence in thine own beauty, and played the harlot, when thou hadst gotten thee a name. Thou hast committed whoredom with all that went by thee, and hast fulfilled their desires:

Yea, thou hast taken thy garments of divers colors, and decked thine altars therewith, whereupon thou mightest fulfill thine whoredom, of such a fashion as never was done, nor shall be.

Thou hast taken thine own sons and daughters, whom thou hast begotten unto me: and these hast thou offered up to them, to be their meat. Is this but a small whoredom of thine, thinkest thou,

that thou slayest my children, and givest them over to be burnt unto them?

Thou hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, thou hast laid out thy legs to every one that came by, and multiplied thine whoredom.

Should I make my wrath to be still, take my jealousy from thee, be content, and no more to be displeased?

Therefore thou which didst condemn thy sister: bear thine own shame, for thine own offences that thou hast committed - more abominable than they did, which indeed are more righteous than thou art. Be thou, I say, ashamed; and bear thy shameful rebuke, seeing that thou has proven thy sisters in comparison of the righteous.

that thou mayest take thine own confusion upon thee, and be ashamed of all that thou hast done, and to comfort them.

Thus thy sisters, namely Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, with thyself and thy daughters, shall be brought again to your old estate.

For thus sayeth the LORD God: I should, by right, deal with thee, as thou hast done. Thou hast despised the oath, and broken the covenant.