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 came upon him there.)

As I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing continually from it; and a brightness was around it, and in its core [there was] something like glowing [amber-colored] metal in the midst of the fire.

Among the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire.

Now stretched over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, looking like the terrible and awesome shimmer of icy crystal.

And there was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stopped, they lowered their wings.

Now upward, from that which appeared to be His waist, I saw something like glowing metal that looked like it was filled with fire all around it; and downward, from that which appeared to be His waist, I saw something like fire; and there was a brightness and a remarkable radiance [like a halo] around Him.

As for them, whether they listen or refuse [to listen]—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know and be fully aware of the fact that there has been a prophet among them.

Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the River Chebar at Tel Abib. I sat there for seven days [in the place] where they were living, overwhelmed with astonishment [by my vision and the work before me].

The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out to the plain, and I will speak to you.”

So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell face downward.

But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”

Again take some hair and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.

Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness; none of them (Israel) will remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them.

When anguish comes, they [of Judah] shall seek peace, but there will be none.

It came about in the sixth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin], on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I sat in my house [near Babylon] with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell on me there.

And behold, the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel [who had loved and chosen them] was there, like the vision which I saw in the plain.

Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard; and when I looked, behold, [there was] a hole in the wall.

He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” And when I had dug into the wall, behold, there was an entrance.

So I entered and looked, and saw every kind of creeping things and beasts and loathsome things, and all the idols of the house of Israel, carved all around on the wall.

Standing before these [images] were seventy elders of the house of Israel, and among them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan [the scribe], each man with his censer in his hand and a thick and fragrant cloud of incense was rising [as they prayed to these gods].

Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse (firmament) that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared something [glorious and brilliant] above them looking like a [huge] sapphire stone, formed to resemble a throne.

Then I looked and behold, [there were] four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub and another wheel beside each other cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a sparkling Tarshish stone (beryl).

Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the Lord’s house, which faced eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate there were twenty-five men; and I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

When they return there, they will remove from it all [traces of] its detestable things and all its repulsive things (remnants of paganism).

I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there.

For there will no longer be any false and empty vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be fulfilled completely,”’” says the Lord God.

It is definitely because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because when one builds a [flimsy] wall, behold, these [lying] prophets plaster it over with whitewash;

so tell those who plaster it with whitewash, that it will fall! A flooding rain [of judgment] will come, and you, O [great] hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will tear the wall apart.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath, and there will be in My anger an overwhelming rain and great hailstones to destroy [that wall] in wrath.

along with the [false] prophets of Israel who prophesy [deceitfully] to Jerusalem, and who see [false] visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ says the Lord God.

“There was [also] another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine (Zedekiah) bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him, away from the beds where it was planted, for him to water.

I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his treason which he has committed against Me.

For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, they saw every high hill and every dark and leafy tree [as a place for idol worship], and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger; there also they made their sweet-smelling aroma and there poured out their drink offerings.

and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.

For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel (Zion),” says the Lord God, “there the whole house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There I will [graciously] accept them, and there I will seek (require) your offerings and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy and sacred things.

There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all your evil deeds which you have done.

There is a conspiracy of her [false] prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured [human] life; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows among her.

“Son of man, there were two women (Israel and Judah), the daughters of one mother (the united kingdom);

and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. From their youth they were grossly immoral; in that place their breasts were embraced and their virgin bosom was grasped.

She did not give up the acts of prostitution that originated during her time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their depravity on her.

For she lusted after her lovers [there], whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

For when they had killed their children [as offerings] to their idols, then they came the same day to My sanctuary to profane it [by daring to offer a sacrifice there also]. And behold, this they did within My house.

Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

They will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you and say to you,

‘How you have perished and vanished, O renowned city,
From the seas, O renowned city,
Which was mighty on the sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who imposed her terror
On all who lived there!

Behold, you are [imagining yourself] wiser than Daniel;
There is no secret [you think] that is hidden from you;

And there will no longer be a briar or a painful thorn to prick the house of Israel from all those around them who treated them with contempt; then they will know [with clarity] that I am the Lord God.”

I will reverse the fortunes of Egypt [as I will that of Israel] and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.

On that day [swift] messengers will go from Me in ships to frighten the careless and unsuspecting Ethiopians, and there will be anguish and trembling in them as in the day of [judgment for] Egypt; for behold, it is coming!”

‘Thus says the Lord God,
“I will also destroy the idols
And I will put an end to the images in Memphis;
There will no longer be a prince of the land of Egypt.
And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

“In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark
When I break the yoke bars and dominion of Egypt there.
Then the pride of her power will come to an end;
A cloud [of disasters] will cover her,
And her daughters will go into captivity.

‘Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the forest
And its boughs multiplied and its branches grew long;
Because there was so much water they spread outward.

“Assyria is there with all her warriors; their graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword,

“Elam [a conquest of Assyria] is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who made their terror spread in the land of the living and bore their shame and defeat with those who went down to the pit.

“Meshech, Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves surround them. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living.

“Edom is there also, her kings and all her princes, who for all their power and strength are laid with those who were slain by the sword; they will lie [in shame and defeat] with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

“The princes of the north are there also, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their power, have gone down in shame with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

They were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the predators of the field.

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “certainly because My flock has become prey, My flock has even become food for every predator of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

I will make them and the places around My hill (Jerusalem, Zion) a blessing. And I will make showers come down in their season; there will be [abundant] showers of blessing (divine favor).

“Because you [descendants of Esau] have said, ‘These two nations [Israel and Judah] and these two lands shall be mine, and we will take possession of them,’ although the Lord was there,

He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

They will live in the land where your fathers lived, [the land] that I gave to My servant Jacob, and they will live there, they and their children and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever.

In My zeal and in My blazing rage I declare that on that day there will most certainly be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,

“And on that day I will give Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass through. So they will bury Gog there with all his hordes, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog).

They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery (unfaithfulness) which they perpetuated against Me, when they live securely in their own land and there is no one who makes them afraid.

In the visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on the south side of which there was what seemed to be a structure of a city.

So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man [an angel] whose appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

And behold, there was a wall all around the outside [area] of the temple (house) [of the Lord], and in the man’s hand a measuring rod six cubits long (10.2 ft.), each cubit being longer than the standard one by a hand width. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.

There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And windows were all around inside; and palm tree decorations were on each side pillar.

Then he brought me into the outer courtyard, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement made for the courtyard all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement.

Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its side pillars and its porches, and they measured the same as the others.

The gate and its porches had windows all around like those windows [in the other gateways]; the length was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.

There were seven steps going up to the gate, and its porches were in front of them; and it had palm tree decorations [carved] on its side pillars, one on each side.

The inner courtyard had a gate toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

Its guardrooms also, its side pillars and its porches measured the same as the others. And the gate and its porches had windows all around; the length was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.

There were porches all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.

Its guardrooms also, its side pillars and its porches measured the same as the others. The gate and its porches had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

A chamber with its doorway was by the side pillars of the gates; there the burnt offering was to be washed.

Moreover, there were four tables of hewn stone (ashlar) for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high, on which they lay the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice.

From the outside to the inner gate were chambers for the singers in the inner courtyard, one of which was beside the north gate, with its front toward the south, and one beside the south gate facing toward the north.

The length of the porch was twenty cubits and the width eleven cubits; and at the stairway by which it was ascended, there were [two] columns beside the side pillars, one on each side [of the entrance].

And there were carved on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm decorations like those carved on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the front of the porch outside.

There were latticed windows and palm decorations on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch. Thus were the side chambers and the thresholds of the house.

And like the entrances of the chambers that were toward the south there was an entrance at the head of the walkway, the walkway in front of the dividing wall toward the east, as one enters them.

Then he (the angel) said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, are the holy chambers where the priests who are close to the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall place the most holy things—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy.

When the priests enter [the Holy Place], they shall not go out from the sanctuary into the outer court unless they lay there their garments in which they minister, for these are holy (set apart). They shall put on other garments before they approach that which is for the people.”

The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and from the altar hearth shall extend upwards four horns [one from each corner, each one cubit high].

Of this there shall be a square plot five hundred by five hundred cubits in perimeter for the holy place, and fifty cubits for the open space around it.

Then he [my guide] brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced the north; and behold, a place was there at their extreme westward end.

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil (cook) the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard to transmit holiness to the people.”

Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me across to the four corners of the courtyard; and behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was a small courtyard.

In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courtyards, forty cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were the same size.

There was a row of masonry all around inside them, around [each of] the four courtyards, and it was made with cooking hearths under the rows all around.

It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be a very great number of fish, because these waters go there so that the waters of the sea are healed and become fresh; so everything will live wherever the river goes.

By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They shall bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”