a message from the LORD came directly to Buzi's son Ezekiel, the priest, by the Chebar River in the land of the Chaldeans. The hand of the LORD rested upon him there.

"Son of Man," the LORD said, "get up on your feet. I want to talk to you."

"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.

"Son of Man, you are to listen to what I tell you. You are never to be rebellious like they are: a rebellious group. Now, open your mouth and eat what I'm giving you""

Then he told me, "Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see this scroll and then go talk to the house of Israel."

Then he told me, "Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I'm giving you." So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth.

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

Next, he told me, "Son of Man, take to heart every word that I'm telling you. Listen carefully,

"Son of Man," he said, "I've appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me.

"So when I say to a wicked person, "You're about to die,' if you don't warn or instruct that wicked person that his behavior is wicked so he can live, that wicked person will die in his sin, but I'll hold you responsible for his death.

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.

"When a righteous man abandons his righteousness to practice unrighteousness, I'll set a stumbling block before him. He'll die. If you don't warn him, he'll die in his sin and the righteous deeds that he had practiced won't be remembered, but you'll be held responsible for his death.

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."

So I got up, went to the valley, and there was the glory of the LORD, standing there just like I had seen at the Chebar River. So I fell on my face.

"And now Son of Man, you are to take a brick, set it in front of you, and inscribe on it the outline of the city that is, Jerusalem.

Then you are to take a flat, iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. "Next, you are to turn toward it, oppose it, and place it under siege, because you are to lay siege to it. All of this will serve as a sign to the house of Israel.

"Now as for you, you are to sleep on your left side, symbolically bearing the punishment of the house of Israel while you're counting the days you'll be sleeping on your left side to bear symbolically the punishment for their sin.

He also told me, "Son of Man, look! I'm about to disrupt the source of bread in Jerusalem. As a result, they'll ration bread by weight while their terror continues to grow and they'll ration drinking water while their horror continues to mount!

"Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.

"Son of Man," he said, "turn your face to oppose the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

Your altars will become desolate and your sun pillars will be shattered. I'll throw your slain down right in front of your idols.

In all the places where you live, the cities will be desolate. The high places will also be desolate so that your altars will be laid waste, bearing the punishment appropriate to them. Your idols will be shattered, your sun pillars will be hewn down, and your works will be obliterated.

"Son of Man, this is what Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: "It's over! All four corners of the land are out of time!

Very soon now, I'll pour out my burning anger on you. I'll complete expressing my anger at you, judge you according to your behavior, and repay you for all your detestable practices.

"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.

All of a sudden, the glory of the God of Israel was there! It looked like what I had seen back in the valley.

Then he told me, "Son of Man, look up toward the north." So I looked off toward the north. Suddenly, off toward the north, facing the gate that led to the altar, the image that provoked God's jealousy was standing near the entrance.

Then the Spirit told me, "Son of Man, don't you see what they're doing? The house of Israel practices awful, detestable things here, so I'm going far away from my sanctuary. But you're about to see things even more detestable than these."

Then he told me, "Son of Man, dig through the wall!" So I dug into the wall. That's when I uncovered an entrance!

I saw 70 men from the elders of the house of Israel standing among them, including Shaphan's son Jaazaniah. Each man held a censer in his hand. As the scent of the cloud of incense ascended,

the Spirit asked me, "Do you see, Son of Man, what the elders of Israel's house are doing in secret, each in the chamber of his own carved idol? They keep saying, "God doesn't see us. The LORD has abandoned the land.'"

Then he asked me, "Do you see this, Son of Man? You're about to see even more detestable practices than these."

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.

"Do you see this, Son of Man?" he asked me. "Is it an insignificant thing for Judah's house to commit the detestable things that they're doing here? They've filled the land with violence and turned away from me, causing me to become angry again. Look how they're sniffing with their noses!

The cherubim arose. These were the same beings that I had seen at the Chebar River.

These were the living beings that I had seen under the God of Israel on the bank of the Chebar River. I knew that they were cherubim.

Each one had four faces. Each one had four wings, and the form of human hands could be seen under their wings.

As to the likeness of their faces, they were like what I had seen on the bank of the Chebar River. They each moved straight ahead.

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east facing gate of the LORD's Temple. At the entrance of the gate I saw 25 men. Included among them were Azzur's son Jaazaniah and Benaiah's son Pelatiah, who were princes of the people.

Then he told me, "Son of Man, these men are plotting evil and are giving wicked advice in this city.

Therefore you are to prophesy against them. Prophesy, Son of Man!"

While I was prophesying, Benaiah's son Pelatiah died, so I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice. "Ah, Lord GOD," I said, "are you going to put an end to the survivors within Israel?"

"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.'"

"Son of Man, you live in a rebellious house that has eyes to see, but they can't see, and ears to hear, but they can't hear, since they're a rebellious house.

"So now, Son of Man, you are to prepare your luggage for a trip into exile, and then you are to leave during the daytime so they see you leaving. Leave from your place to another while they're watching. Then perhaps they'll realize that they're a rebellious house.

"While they're watching, carry your luggage on your shoulder and go out in total darkness. Cover your face so that you won't see the land, because I'm using you as a sign to Israel's house."

"Son of Man, didn't the house of Israel, that rebellious house, ask you, "What are you doing?'

Tell them, "I'm a sign for you. Just as I enacted it, it's going to happen to them. They'll go into exile and captivity.

"Son of Man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.

"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.'?

"Son of Man, pay attention! The house of Israel keeps on saying, "The vision that he's talking about concerns the distant future. He's prophesying concerning times that are far in the future!'

"Son of Man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who even now are prophesying, and tell those prophets that keep on prophesying according to what they wish would happen, "Listen to what the LORD says.'"

"And now, Son of Man, turn toward and oppose the women of your people who prophesy according to their own wrong inclinations and prophesy against them.

"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?

Therefore, speak up and tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Every person from Israel's house who follows his idols and sets the stumbling block that is his own sin in front of his face, and then consults a prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to how many idols he embraces.

"Son of Man, when a nation sins against me by a treacherous act, I'll reach out to oppose it, destroying its source of food, by sending famine against it, and by destroying both people and beast within it.

"Son of Man, how does wood from a vine compare to a branch taken from any of the trees in the forest?

"Son of Man, make known to Israel her detestable practices.

Look! This was the sin of your sister Sodom and her daughters: Pride, too much food, undisturbed peace, and failure to help the poor and needy.

"Son of Man, compose a riddle and relate a parable to Israel's house.

Look! Every living soul belongs to me the father's as well as the son's. So pay attention! The person who keeps on sinning is going to die."

"Now suppose that person produces a son who's violent, a murderer, and practices any of these things,

even though the father hasn't done any of these things. The son who eats at mountain shrines, defiles his neighbor's wife,

"Now suppose that he produced a son who practiced all of his father's sins, but then that son began to fear me and stopped doing all of these things.

doesn't refuse to help the afflicted, or refuses to loan with usury or exact interest, but instead follows my ordinances and lives his life consistent with my statutes. He won't die because of his father's sin, will he? No! He'll certainly live.

As for his father, watch out! If he wrongfully oppressed or robbed his brother and did what wasn't good among his people, he'll die because of his own sin."

"Yet you keep asking, "Why wouldn't the son bear the punishment of his father's sin?' Because the son has done what was lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and obeyed them, he's certainly going to live.

The soul who sins dies. The son won't bear the punishment of his father's sin and the father won't bear the punishment of his son's sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him.

"Therefore, Israel, I'm going to judge you according to the behavior of each and every one of you," declares the Lord GOD. "So repent and turn from all your sins so that sin won't keep on being a stumbling block for you.

"Son of Man," the LORD told me,

"Will you judge them? Son of Man, will you indeed judge them? Teach them about the detestable things that their ancestors did.

Also, I instituted my Sabbath for them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the LORD, who has set them apart."

You are to make my Sabbaths holy, and you are to let them serve as a sign between you and me, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'"

"Therefore, Son of Man, you are to speak to the children of Israel and tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Your ancestors also blasphemed me in their treacherous behavior against me.

"Son of Man, turn to the south and oppose it, talking toward the south.

"Son of Man, look toward Jerusalem, preach against its sanctuaries, and prophesy against Israel's land.

"And now, Son of Man, you are to start groaning until you're sick to your stomach. You are to groan bitterly right in front of them.

"Son of Man, prophesy and say, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "A sword! A sword is being sharpened. It's also being polished.

It's being sharpened for slaughter, and being polished to gleam like lightning.' "We shouldn't be rejoicing, should we, while my Son's scepter, the sword, is despising every tree?

"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,

"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,

"Now, Son of Man, demarcate two pathways by which the sword of Babylon's king will arrive in the land. Both pathways will lead from a single land.

"Make a sign, carving it out and installing it at the junction on the way to the city. Set it to point one way for bringing the sword against Rabbah, the descendants of Ammon, and the other way against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.

And now Son of Man, prophesy to the Ammonites that this is what the Lord GOD says to the Ammonites about their approaching humiliation: "A sword! A sword is being drawn for slaughter. It's polished to flash like lightning.

"Now, Son of Man, will you truly judge that blood-stained city? Then make her aware of all of her detestable practices.

"Son of Man, Israel has become like dross to me. All of them are like remnants of bronze, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace the dross left over from smelting silver.

"Son of Man, tell her, "You're a land that hasn't been purified, one that hasn't been rained on in the day of indignation.

"Son of Man, here are two sisters who are daughters from the same mother.

Then the LORD spoke to me. "Son of Man, speak out in judgment of both Oholah and Oholibah. Make their detestable practices widely known,

"Son of Man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem on this very day.

"Son of Man, pay attention! I'm about to take away your most precious treasure with a single, fatal stroke, but you are not to mourn, weep, nor even let tears well up in your eyes.

That's why you will soon be doing what I've just done. You are not to cover your mouth or eat what your comforters bring to you.

"And now, Son of Man, on the day that I take their strength, joy, and glory from them, those whom they love to watch, the focus of their affection their sons and daughters

Your mouth will freely speak to the fugitive. You won't be silent any longer. You'll be a sign to them. Then they'll know that I am the LORD."

"Son of Man, turn your attention to the descendants of Ammon and rebuke them.

"Son of Man, because Tyre has been saying about Jerusalem, "The international gateway is broken down! It's wide open to me! I will be replenished, now that it lies in ruins!'

"Son of Man, compose a mourning song for Tyre.

with sails made with embroidered Egyptian linen, festooned with blue banners, and with your sun shades made with purple cloth from Cypress.

"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"