the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there on him.

He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you."

He said to me, "Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day.

You, son of man, do not be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: do not be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you."

He said to me, "Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."

He said to me, "Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you." Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

He said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me.

But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them:

"You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem:

Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:

"You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber's razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds.'

"Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them,

"You, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, 'An end: the end has come on the four corners of the land.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north." So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations."

Then he said to me, "Son of man, dig now in the wall": and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.

There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, 'The LORD doesn't see us. The LORD has forsaken the land.'"

Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these."

Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose.

Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the LORD's house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, officials of the people.

He said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;

Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man."

It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord GOD. Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

"Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far away from the LORD. This land has been given to us for a possession.'

"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and do not see, who have ears to hear, and do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Therefore, you son of man, prepare your stuff for moving, and move by day in their sight; and you shall move from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

"Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

"Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness;

"Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, 'The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?'

"Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.'

"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the LORD:

"You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them,

"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

"Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;

though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they could not save either son nor daughter; they would save only their own souls by their righteousness.

Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.

"Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?

"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;

"'Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,

"Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.

"If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things,

"Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;

"Yet you say, 'Why doesn't the son bear the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.

The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.

"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you."'

Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you;

"Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

"Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

"Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes.

"Son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the LORD: Say, "A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;

it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? The rod of my son, it condemns every tree.

Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.

"You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their rooms.

"Also, you son of man, appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

"You, son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, "A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;

"You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.

"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

"Son of man, tell her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.'

"Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.

I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire.

The LORD said moreover to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured.

The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

"Son of man, write the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day.

"Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.

'Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.

"You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,

"Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them:

"Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste':

"You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre;

"Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas'; yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God?

"Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

"Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it,

"Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

"Son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Wail, 'Alas for the day.'

"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.

"Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: 'Whom are you like in your greatness?

"Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, 'You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.'

"Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.

"Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, 'When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;

"So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

"You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: 'Thus you speak, saying, "Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?"'

"You, son of man, tell the children of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.'

"Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, 'Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.'

"As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, 'Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from the LORD.'

Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?