I also heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of roaring water, like the voice of the Almighty, or like a boisterous crowd within an army camp. Whenever they stopped flying, they lowered their wings.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard a great earthquake behind me and the glory of the LORD arose from his place,

accompanied by the sound of the wings of the living creatures gently touching each other and with the sound of the wheels emanating from the front, accompanied by a great earthquake.

"Violence has matured into a branch that is wicked. No one will survive from that vast crowd, from their wealthy people, or from the famous among them.

"The day has arrived. Don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller lament, because wrath is coming to attack the entire multitude. The seller won't regain what he has sold while the crowd remains alive, because the vision concerning the entire multitude won't be annulled. No person will be able to survive because of the sin in his life.

Then the Spirit brought me to the entrance of the court. As I watched, all of a sudden, there was a hole in the wall!

Then he brought me to the inner court of the LORD's Temple. There, at the entrance to the LORD's Temple, between the porch and the altar, were 25 men, with their backs toward the LORD's Temple and facing the east, prostrating themselves to the sun.

Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the entrance to the Temple, when the man entered and a cloud filled the inner court.

The glory of the LORD rose above the cherub and moved to the threshold of the Temple. A cloud filled the Temple and the court was filled with the brilliance of the LORD's glory.

The sound of the wings of the cherubim, reminiscent of the voice of the Sovereign God when he speaks, could be heard as far as the outer court.

"When someone builds a wall, they coat it with whitewash. Tell those who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. It will be washed off by the rain. Great hailstones will fall and a stormy wind will strip it off.

Now as to your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord wasn't cut. You weren't washed with water to clean you, and nobody rubbed you with salt. And it's certain that you weren't wrapped in strips of cloth.

Then you'll remember your behavior and be ashamed when you greet your sisters your elder sister and your younger sister. I'll give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.

"Tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Will it prosper? Won't he pull up its roots, and strip it bare so all its fresh foliage dries up? It won't be by great strength or by a great army that it will be uprooted.

"Now, Son of Man, prophesy as you strike your hands together. Let the sword that fatally wounds be doubled and tripled. That great, slaughtering sword closes in on them. I've set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates,

Mercenaries from Arvad and Helech stood guard duty on your walls, while brave men manned your towers. They hung their shields all around your walls just the right touch to perfect your interior decorating!"

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."

"Son of Man, tell this to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and his gangs: "Who do you think you are? What makes you so great?

Abundant water made it great, Subterranean rivers made it grow. Rivers surrounded the area where it had been planted, and water channels nourished all the trees in the fields.

The birds in the sky made nests in its boughs; all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches. All the great nations rested in its shade.

"Beautiful because it was so great, with its long branches, it was rooted in many bodies of water.

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.

"Now as for you, Son of Man, this is what the Lord GOD has to say: "Tell all of the birds and wild beasts, "Come! Gather together and participate in the sacrifice that I'm going to make for you. This great sacrifice will take place on the mountains of Israel, where you'll be eating flesh and drinking blood.

Next, he brought me into the outer court, where chambers and a paved area had been constructed all around the courtyard, with 30 chambers facing the pavement.

He also measured the width from the front lower gate to the front of the exterior inner court at 100 cubits to the east and to the north.

The inner court contained a south-facing gate measuring 100 cubits from gate to gate toward the south.

He measured the court in the form of a square at 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide. The altar stood in front of the Temple.

Opposite the 20 cubits wide inner court, and opposite the paved area that comprised the outer court, there were three stories of galleries that faced each other.

The outer wall by the side of the chambers toward the outer court and facing the chambers was 50 cubits long.

While the chambers in the outer court were 50 cubits in length, the chambers facing the Temple were 100 cubits long.

Below these chambers, as one might enter from the outer court, was the east side entrance.

There were chambers built into the thick part of the wall of the court facing the east; that is, facing the separate area toward the front of the building,

When the priest enters, they will not enter the outer court from the sanctuary without having removed their garments worn during their time of ministry, because they are holy. They will put on different clothes, and then they will approach the area reserved for the people."

Whenever they enter at the gates of the inner court, they are to be clothed with linen garments. They are not to wear wool when they are ministering within the gates of the inner courtyard or in the Temple.

On the day that he returns to the sanctuary's inner court to minister, he is to offer his own sin offering," declares the Lord GOD.

The priest is to place some of the blood from the sin offering on the door posts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge around the altar, and on the posts of the gate leading to the inner court.

It will support all kinds of living creatures that will thrive abundantly wherever the river flows. There will be a great many fish, because this water will flow there and turn the salt water fresh. As a result, everything will live wherever the river flows.