(On the fifth of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,

And I looked, and behold: a stormy wind came out of the North with a great cloud full of fire, which, with his glister, lightened all round about. And in the midst of the fire it was all clear,

and as it were the likeness of four beasts: which were fashioned like a man,

Whenever the four moved, no matter which of four directions, they moved without turning around.

Above over the heads of the beasts there was a firmament, which was fashioned as it had been of the most pure Crystal, and that was spread out above upon their heads:

Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. Every living being had two wings which covered its body on one side and on the other side.

And there was a voice from the top of the arch which was over their heads: when they came to rest they let down their wings.

Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.

Yea the shine and glister that lightened round about, was like a rainbow, which in a rainy day appeareth in the clouds. Even so was the similitude, wherein the glory of the LORD appeared. When I saw it, I fell upon my face, and hearkened unto the voice of him that spake.

And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day.

But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee.

And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.

He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

Not to many nations which have divers speeches and hard languages, whose words thou understandest not. Nevertheless, if I sent thee to those people, they would follow thee:

Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely.

I heard also the noise of the wings of the beasts, that rushed one against another; yea, and the rattling of the wheels that were by them - which rushing and noise was very great.

Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness (right standing with God) and sins, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but you will be responsible for his blood.

Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

and the spirit came in to me, which set me up upon my feet, and said thus unto me, "Go thy way, and shut thyself in thine house.

Thou, therefore lie thou on thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, - during the number of the days which thou shalt lie thereon, shalt thou bear their punishment.

Thou, therefore, take thee wheat and barley and peas and lentils and millet and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make them ready for thee as bread, - during the number of days which thou art lying on thy side. a hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat it;

And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.

You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon, which you will drink from time to time.

And let your food be barley cakes, cooking it before their eyes with the waste which comes out of a man.

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.”

Then He said to me, “See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread.”

Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the staff of bread [that supports life] in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread [rationed] by weight and [eat it] with anxiety and fear, and drink water by measure and [drink it] in horror [of the impending starvation],

You are to burn a third of it in the middle of the city when you've finished your siege. Next, you are to take another third of it and beat it with your sword. Last, you are to scatter the remaining third to the wind, after which I'll unsheathe my sword and pursue them.

Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire: from which a fire shall come forth into all the house of Israel.

But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’

And because of all your abominations, I will do among you that which I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again.

Thus will I perform my indignation and set my wrath against them, and ease myself. So that when I have fulfilled mine anger against them, they shall know that I am the LORD, which with a fervent jealousy have spoken it.

Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by.

So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, a chastening and a horror to the nations which are all around you, when I shall execute judgments against you in anger and in fury and in rebukes among them. I Jehovah have spoken it.

I will shoot against them deadly, destructive arrows of famine, which I will shoot to destroy you. I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply.

And I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, which shall bereave thee of children; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee: I, Jehovah, have spoken.

Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize how I was crushed by their unfaithful heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices.

“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Strike with your fist, stamp with your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil atrocities of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, by famine, and by virulent disease!

And you will know that I [am] Yahweh {when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols} around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak--the place [at] which they gave pleasing scent for all of their idols.

For the seller will not regain and return to what he sold, even were they yet alive; for the vision [of punishment] regarding all the multitude [of people] will not be turned back, nor will any one of them sustain his life because of his sin.

He stretched out the form of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue which provokes to jealousy was located.

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.”

And he said to me, Go in and see the evil and disgusting things which they are doing here.

So I went in and saw; and there every sort of living thing which goes flat on the earth, and unclean beasts, and all the images of the children of Israel, were pictured round about on the wall.

And He saith unto me, 'Hast thou seen, son of man, that which elders of the house of Israel are doing in darkness, each in the inner chambers of his imagery, for they are saying, Jehovah is not seeing us, Jehovah hath forsaken the land?'

He also said to me, “Yet again you will see even greater repulsive acts which they are committing.”

Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah's house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.

He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the repulsive acts which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me to anger? And behold, they are putting the branch to their nose.

Next, I noticed six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then the [Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the God of Israel (the cloud) went up from the cherubim on which it had rested, to [stand above] the threshold of the [Lord’s] temple. And the Lord called to the man clothed with linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side.

The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

kill and destroy both old man and young, maidens, children and wives. But as for those, that have the mark upon them: see that ye touch them not. And begin at my Sanctuary." Then they began at the elders, which were in the temple,

And lo! the man clothed in linen, having the ink-holder by his side, bringing back word saying, - I have done according to all which thou didst command me.

Then looking, I saw that on the arch which was over the head of the winged ones there was seen over them what seemed like a sapphire stone, having the form of a king's seat.

Now when he had bidden the man that was clothed in linen, to go and take the hot coals from the midst of the wheels, which were under the Cherubims: he went and stood beside the wheels.

Then one of the cherubim stretched out his hand toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left.

When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went.

And all their flesh, and their back, and their hands and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about, even their wheels which they four had

And the winged ones went up on high: this is the living being which I saw by the river Chebar.

These were the living creatures which I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim.

As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one went straight forward.

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.

Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.

For this, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Your wounded which ye set in her midst, they the flesh, and this the pot: and I brought you forth from its midst.

"Thou son of man: thy brethren, thy kinsfolk, and the whole house of Judah which dwell at Jerusalem, say, 'They be gone far from the LORD, but the land is given us in possession.'

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed Israel far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries to which they had gone.”’

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’

Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the [Shekinah] glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.

Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and paused over the mountain, [the Mount of Olives] which is east of the city.

And the wind, lifting me up, took me in the visions of God into Chaldaea, to those who had been taken away as prisoners. So the vision which I had seen went away from me.

Then I gave an account to those who had been taken prisoners of all the things which the Lord had made me see.

"Thou son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a froward household: which have eyes to see, and yet see not; ears have they to hear, and yet hear they not. For they are an obstinate household.

Say to them, thus said the Lord Jehovah: The ruler of this burden in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel which they are in the midst of them.

And the ruler who is among them will take his goods on his back in the dark and go out: he will make a hole in the wall through which to go out: he will have his face covered so that he may not be seen.

My line will I spread out upon him, and catch him in my net, and carry him to Babylon, in the land of the Chaldeans: which he shall not see, and yet shall he die there.

And all which are round about him to help, and all his hosts, I will scatter to every wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

But I will leave a few [survivors] who will escape the sword, the famine, and the virulent disease, that they may confess all their repulsive (idolatrous) acts among the nations where they go, and may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

Son of man, what is this saying which you have about the land of Israel, The time is long and every vision comes to nothing?

Tell them therefore, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: I will make that byword to cease, so that it shall no more be commonly used in Israel.' But say this unto them, 'The days are at hand, that everything which hath been prophesied, shall be fulfilled.

Son of man, see, the children of Israel say, The vision which he sees is for the days which are a long way off, and his words are of times still far away.

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.

This is what the Lord has said: A curse on the foolish prophets who go after the spirit which is in them and have seen nothing!

Therefore tell them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall. For there shall come a great shower of rain, great stones shall fall upon it, and a sore storm of wind shall break it.

Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the coating with which you [prophets] plastered it?’”

So I will let the wall, which you were covering with whitewash, be broken down; I will have it levelled to the earth so that its base is uncovered: it will come down, and destruction will come on you with it; and it will be clear to you that I am the Lord.

These are the prophets of Israel, which prophesy unto the city of Jerusalem, and look out visions of peace for them, whereas no peace is, sayeth the LORD God.'

"Wherefore, O thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people which prophesy out of their own hearts: and speak thou prophecy against them,

Ye will profane me to my people for handfuls of barley and for morsels of bread, to kill the souls which shall not die, and to preserve alive the souls which shall not live, by your falsehood to my people hearing the falsehood?

"'Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people's lives like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people's lives, which you hunt like birds.

Son of man, these men have taken their false gods into their hearts and put before their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall: am I to give ear when they come to me for directions?

For this cause say to them, These are the words of the Lord: Every man of Israel who has taken his false god into his heart, and put before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself in agreement with the number of his false gods;

So that taking the house of Israel in their heart, which were all of them separated from me by their blocks.

When any one of the men of Israel, or of those from other lands who are living in Israel, who has become strange to me, and takes his false gods into his heart, and puts before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, comes to the prophet to get directions from me; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself:

But truly, there will still be a small band who will be safe, even sons and daughters: and they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings: and you will be comforted about the evil which I have sent on Jerusalem, even about everything I have sent on it.

They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord."

“Son of man, how is the wood of the grapevine (Israel) better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

Can wood be taken from it to make any object? Or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?

"Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire -- so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem as fuel.