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.

Deep inside it, the likenesses of four living beings were visible. Their appearances were similar to human forms,

and straight legs. Their feet resembled calves' hooves, but they gleamed like polished bronze.

From under their wings there were human hands on their four sides.

Now as to their four faces and four pairs of wings, their pairs of wings overlapped each other. They moved in straight directions without turning their faces around as they moved.

The form of their faces was human, but each of the four also had the face of a lion to the right, the face of an ox to the left, and the face of an eagle behind them.

That's what their faces were like. Their wings spread out above and around them, one pair overlapping another, with one pair covering themselves.

Now, in the midst of the living beings there was something that appeared to glow like coals kindled by a fire, like torches that moved back and forth between the living beings. The fire was dazzling, and lightning flashed from the fire.

Their wheels and their construction details looked like gold-colored beryl. Each wheel was identical in form to the others, and they appeared to have been constructed and designed as if one wheel were within another.

Their wheel rims were ornate and terrifying. They were full of eyes that surrounded the four of them.

There was spread out over the heads of the living beings what looked like a canopy, in outward appearance resembling ice,

and underneath the canopy, their wings spread out straight over their heads toward each other. They each also had two wings with which they covered themselves, one wing covering its body on one side and one wing covering itself on the other side.

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.

A sound came from above the canopy that was spread out over their heads. Whenever they stood still, they lowered their wings.

From above the canopy that was spread out over their heads, there appeared to be something reminiscent of a throne, resembling sapphire in form.

There was the likeness of the appearance of a human being seated on the likeness of the throne high above. I noticed that from what appeared to look like his waist upward there was something that looked like metal that glowed as if it were immersed in fire. Below this there was something resembling fire, with a radiant light surrounding him.

"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!

Whether this rebellious group listens to you or not, at least they'll realize that a prophet had appeared in their midst!

"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.

As I watched, all of a sudden there was a hand being stretched out in my direction! And there was a scroll

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he told me, "Get up! Go to the valley, and I'll speak with you there."

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.

Now pay attention! They're going to bind you with ropes, tying you up right in their midst, so you won't be able to circulate freely among them.

"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.

"Furthermore, you are to take some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and mix them together in one container. Then you are to make bread from these grains sufficient to supply you through the time during which you'll be sleeping on your side. You are to eat it for 390 days.

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!

Indeed, they'll need bread and water, but everyone will be panic-stricken as they waste away in their iniquity."

"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.

Then you are to take a few strands, throw them in the fire, and incinerate them. A fire will proceed to the house of Israel from there."

Fathers will eat their children in your midst. After this, your sons will eat their fathers as I carry out my sentence against you and scatter your survivors to the winds!'

I'll send arrows of severe famine in their direction, meant for destruction, which I'll shoot, intending to destroy them. I'll make you have more and more famines that will attack you, and I'll disrupt your source of food.

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

I'll place the corpses of the Israelis in front of their idols. I'll scatter your bones around your altar.

Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they'll be taken captives. I've been crushed by their unfaithful hearts that have turned against me.

The one who lives far away will die by pestilence and the one who is near will die violently. The survivors and their surveillance details will die by famine as I exhaust my rage against them.

"You'll learn that I am the LORD, when the fatally wounded will be among their idols, around their altars, on every hill, on top of the mountains, under every luxuriant tree, and under all the full-grown foliage every place where they've offered fragrant aromas to all their idols.

I'll stretch out my hands to strike them and send devastation to the land, from the wilderness of Diblah, throughout all their dwelling places. Then they'll know that I am the LORD."

""Your doom has come to you, you who live in the land. The time has arrived, and the day of confusion is near. There will be no shouts of joy on the mountains.

"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.

Fugitives will escape to the mountains like doves fleeing through the valleys, all of them moaning because of their own iniquity.

"They'll clothe themselves with sackcloth, terror will overcome them, shame will cover their faces, and baldness will spread over their entire heads.

They'll fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will be cast away as impure. Their silver and gold won't be able to deliver them during the time of the LORD's wrath. They won't be able to satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, because their iniquity has tripped them up."

Therefore, I'm bringing the worst of the nations, who will take possession of their houses. I'll cause the pride of the mighty to cease, and their sanctuaries will be profaned.

"When destruction comes, they'll seek peace, but there will be none to be found.

"The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I'll deal with them according to their behavior and I will judge them by how they've judged. Then they'll learn that I am the LORD."

and I saw a likeness comparable to the appearance of a man. From his thighs downward there was the appearance of fire, and from his waist upward, there was the appearance of brightness that looked like brass.

The form of a hand reached out and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and sky, brought me toward Jerusalem, and in visions that came from God took me through the doors of the inner gate that faced north, where an image that provoked God's jealous anger had been erected.

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

Then he told me, "Go on through that entrance, so you may see the wicked, detestable things that they're committing here."

So I entered, looked around, and there was every form of crawling thing, loathsome animals, and all kinds of idols from the house of Israel carved all around 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.

"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!

All of a sudden, I noticed six men approaching from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north. Each of them held a destructive weapon in his hand. Among them there was one man, clothed in linen, who was equipped with a writing set at his side. They went in and presented themselves beside the bronze altar.

As I continued to listen, he also told the others, "Follow him through the city and start killing. Don't spare anyone you see, and don't show pity of any kind.

So as for me, I'm not going to show pity, and I won't look in their direction with mercy. I'm repaying them for what they have done."

As I continued to watch, there on the expanse above the heads of the cherubim was a massive sapphire stone that resembled a throne in form and appearance.

There appeared to be human hands under the wings of the cherubim.

Whenever they moved, they proceeded without turning around as they moved, but they followed in the direction where their head was facing, without looking around as they moved.

Their entire bodies, backs, hands, and wings were filled with eyes around, including each of their four wheels.

When the cherubim moved, the wheels went alongside them. But when the cherubim started to ascend, beating their wings to rise above the earth, the wheels beside them didn't turn.

The cherubim lifted their wings and rose above the earth while I watched. They went out, along with their wheels, and stood at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's Temple as the glory of Israel's God remained above, covering them.

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.

Just then the Spirit of the LORD took control of me and told me, "You are to say, "This is what the LORD says: "You've said, O house of Israel, that I know what goes through your mind.

"Therefore you are to say, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Although I've removed them far away to live among the nations, and although I've scattered them throughout the earth, yet I've continued to be their sanctuary, even for the short time that they will be living in the lands to which they've gone."'

When they return from there and cast away all of their loathsome things and detestable practices,

then I'll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them. I'll remove their stubborn heart and give them a heart that's sensitive to me.

When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they'll be my people and I will be their God.

But to those whose hearts delight in loathsome things and detestable practices, I'll bring the consequences of their behavior crashing down on their own heads," declares the Lord GOD.'"

Then the cherubim arose, with their wheels alongside, and the glory of Israel's God remained above and over them.

While they continue to watch, dig a hole for yourself in the wall and enter through it.

Answer them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "This oracle concerns the prince of Jerusalem and the whole of Israel's house that is in their midst.

Then the prince, who will be one of them, will carry his luggage on his shoulder in the dark and will go out. They'll dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. His face will be covered so that he won't be able to see the land with his eyes.

But I'll throw my net over him. As a result, he'll be captured with my net, and with it I'll bring him to Babel, the land of the Chaldeans. He won't see it, though he'll die there.

"But I'll preserve a few people out of the violent death, famine, and pestilence, so they can recount their detestable practices among the nations when they'll go there. Then they'll know that I am the LORD."

Then tell the people of the land, "This is what the LORD says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to Israel's land: "They'll eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in trepidation, because their land will be desolate in its entirety due to all the violence committed by all who live in it.

There will no longer be worthless visions and flattering divinations in the midst of Israel's house.

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for the false prophets who walk according to their own wrong inclinations and see nothing.

""They say, ""declares the LORD," even though the LORD didn't send them. And they hope for the fulfillment of their message. You've crafted a false prophesy and spoken deceptive divination, haven't you? But then you say, ""declares the LORD," although I haven't spoken a single word.

because they've truly caused my people to stray saying, "Peace," but there's no peace.'"

The prophets of Israel prophesied about Jerusalem and saw visions of peace concerning her, yet there's no peace,'" declares the Lord GOD.

"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.

Tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for those women who sew magical bracelets on all their wrists and make one-size-fits all headbands, in order to entrap their souls. Will you hunt for the souls of my people and remain alive?

"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?

I'll do this in order to capture the hearts of Israel's house who have become alienated from me due to all of their idols."'"

"Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I'll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel.

They'll bear the consequences of their guilt, and the prophet will be just as guilty as the one who seeks that prophet's guidance.

Then Israel's house won't wander away from me again, nor will they defile themselves again with all their transgressions. They'll become my people and I'll be their God," declares the Lord GOD.

Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job lived in that land, they would only save their own lives on account of their righteousness," declares the Lord GOD.

"If I were to make wild animals pass throughout the land, so that they kill its residents and it were to become desolate because no one will travel through it due to those wild animals,

then even though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they wouldn't be able to deliver even their sons or daughters. They would only save themselves, but the land would become desolate.

though these three men lived there, as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "they couldn't deliver their own sons and daughters. They would only save themselves.

even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were among them, as I live" says the Lord GOD, "they couldn't save their own sons or daughters. They would only save their own souls due to their own righteousness."

But look! There will be a remnant who escapes, a few sons and daughters to be brought out. Look! They'll come out to you and you'll see how they've lived and what they've done, and you'll be comforted concerning the catastrophe that I brought on Jerusalem, including everything that I brought against her.

After all, it's useful only for kindling a fire, isn't it? And once you've burnt up the ends and charred through the middle of it, is it useful for anything else?

If it was useless before it was burned, now that it's been burned and charred through, it's even more useless!

and dedicate the land to desolation because of their unfaithful unbelief," declares the Lord GOD.

"""When I passed by you, I saw you kicking around, covered in your own blood. That's when I told you, "Live!' while you were wallowing in your blood. I commanded you to live, even as you lay there in your own blood.