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.

As I observed the living beings, I noticed one wheel on the earth beside each being that is, for the four of them.

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.

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

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.

"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

because you're not going to a people whose speech you cannot understand or whose language is difficult to speak. Instead, you're going to the house of Israel.

This isn't a large group of people whose speech is unintelligible to you or whose language is difficult for you to comprehend. Frankly, if I had sent you to that kind of people, they would certainly have listened to you!

But the house of Israel won't listen to you, since they weren't willing to listen to me. That's because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

So pay attention! I'm going to make you just as obstinate and unyielding as they are.

then go immediately to the exiles; that is, to your people's descendants, and tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says"' whether they listen or not."

Then the Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly with an angry attitude as the hand of the LORD rested on 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.

The Spirit entered me, rested on me, caused me to stand on my feet, and then he spoke to me. This is what he had to say: "Go barricade yourself in your house.

But when I speak with you, I'll open your mouth so you can say to them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "As for those who will listen, "Let them listen,' but as for those who refuse, "Let them refuse,' since they're a rebellious group."'"

"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.

I've assigned you to sleep this way for 390 days, representing the years they've been sinning, as you bear symbolically the punishment of the house of Israel.

The food that you'll be eating is to consist of portions weighing 20 shekels, to be consumed daily at regular intervals.

You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel."

Then the LORD said, "This is how the Israelis will be eating unclean food among the nations, where I'll be sending them."

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.

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "This is Jerusalem. I placed her in the center of nations, with many nations surrounding her.

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you're more disrespectful than the nations that surround you, you didn't follow my statutes or follow my ordinances. You didn't even follow the ordinances of the surrounding nations!'

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I that's right, even I am against you. I'll carry out my sentence among you right in front of the nations.

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!'

"Therefore, as sure as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "because you've defiled my sanctuary with every loathsome thing and every abomination, I'll restrain myself, and I'll show neither pity nor compassion.

A third of you will die by pestilence, starving because of the famine in your midst. Another third will die violently by the violence of war around you. The final third I'll scatter to the wind as I unsheathe my sword to pursue them.

As a result, Jerusalem will become an insult, an object of taunt, an example of chastisement, and a useless waste to all the nations that surround you when I carry out my sentence against you in my anger, my burning rage, and my burning rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken it.

Tell the mountains of Israel to listen as the Lord GOD speaks. This is what the Lord GOD has to say to the mountains, hills, streams, and the valleys: "Look! I'm about to bring my sword against you. I'm going to destroy your high places.

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Clap your hands and stamp your feet! Say, "Oh, no!' Because of all the detestable evil that has come from Israel's house, they'll fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.

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.

"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!

Your time is up! I'm sending my anger against you to judge you according to how you live your lives, and I'm going to pay you back with the consequences of all your detestable practices.

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "It's one evil event after another! ""Look out! It's coming!

""The end is coming! ""The end is here! ""And it's looking in your direction! ""Look out! It's arrived!

""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.

"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.

"They've sounded the alarm, and everyone is prepared, but no one is marching for battle, since I'm angry at the entire multitude.

The sword lurks outside, but pestilence and famine are on the prowl inside the house. Whoever is in the field will die by violence, while famine and pestilence will devour those in the city.

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."

"As for his beautiful ornament, he set it up in majesty, but they made detestable images and loathsome idols. Therefore, I'll give them something loathsome

I'll give it as plunder into the control of strangers and as the spoils of war to the wicked who will invade the land to profane it.

"Forge a chain, because the land is full of bloody judgment and the city is filled with violence.

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!

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.'"

"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!

Then the glory that is Israel's God arose from the cherubim on which he had been seated and settled on the threshold of the Temple. He called out to the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case at his side.

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.

"The house of Israel and Judah is guilty and theirs is a stubborn guilt, at that!" he replied to me. "The land is filled with blood, and the city overflows with injustice, because they keep saying, "The LORD has abandoned the land,' and "The LORD isn't watching.'

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."

Then I noticed the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case by his side as he brought back this message: "I've done as you have commanded me."

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.

The LORD spoke to the man who was clothed in white linen, telling him, "Go between the whirling wheels, under the cherubim, and fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim. Then scatter them over the city." So he entered as I watched.

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.

As I continued to watch, I observed four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. The wheels resembled beryl stone.

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.

The wheels whose sound I was hearing were called "the whirling wheels".

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.

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.

They keep saying, "The right time to build families hasn't yet arrived. The city is the pot and we are the meat.'

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 this is what the Lord GOD says, "The corpses that you've laid out in your midst are the meat, and this city is the cooking pot. But you'll be taken out from the middle of it.

You're going to die violently, and I'll judge you as far as the borders of Israel. Then you'll learn that I am the LORD.

This city won't be your cooking pot and neither will you be the meat in it, because I'm going to judge you as far as the borders of 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.'"

"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."'

"Therefore you are to say, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm going to gather you from among the nations, assembling you from the lands among which you have been dispersed. I'll give you the land of Israel.

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.'"

"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."

I did just as I was commanded. I brought out the luggage as if it were luggage for exile. I did this during the day. Then in the evening I dug a hole in the wall with my hand and brought the luggage out in total darkness and carried it out on my shoulder while they were watching.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Therefore you are to tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm about to put an end to use of this proverb in Israel. It will never be used again as a proverb in Israel. Instead, tell them that the days are drawing near when every vision will be fulfilled.

Therefore tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "None of my messages will be delayed any longer. Any message that I speak will be fulfilled," declares the Lord GOD.'"

"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.

""Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, "Because you've spoken falsehood and deceptions, I am therefore opposing you," declares the Lord GOD.

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, "In my burning anger, I'll rip it open with a windstorm. In my anger, I'll rinse it off with rain, and put an end to it with a hailstorm in my destructive rage.

""That's how I'll vent my anger on the wall and on the ones who coated it with whitewash. And I'll say to you, "The wall is gone and so are those who coated it."

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?

""Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says, "Watch out! I'm opposing your amulets with which you hunt souls as one would swat at a flying insect. I'll tear them off your arms and then deliver those people, whom you've hunted like birds.

"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.

"Therefore you are to tell Israel's house, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Turn away! Turn away from your idols, and abandon your detestable practices!

"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 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."

This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm sending four of my most destructive judgments military invasion, famine, wild animals, and pestilence into Jerusalem to destroy both human beings and livestock in it.

Is wood ever taken from it to make anything practical? Can it even be made into a peg to hang something on?

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?