And under their wings [were] {human hands} on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them [were as follows]:

And each {went straight forward}; {wherever the spirit went} they went, [and] {they did not turn as they went}.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It [was] moving to and fro between the living creatures, and {the fire was very bright} and lightning [was] going out from the fire.

When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not {veer at all as they went}.

Now [the] likeness above the heads of the living creatures [was] an expanse like the outward appearance of {awesome} {ice} spread out above their heads {upward}.

Like the appearance of a bow that is in the cloud on {a rainy day}, such [was] the radiance around it; [thus was] the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

And [the] Spirit came into me as he was speaking to me, and it set me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

[and] not to many nations {of obscure speech} and {a difficult language} {whose words} you do not understand, [for] if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you.

And the house of Israel, they are not willing to listen to you, for they [are] not willing to listen to me, for all of the house of Israel is hard of forehead, and they [are] hard of heart.

"Son of man, I have appointed you [as] a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me.

And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it [as] a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be {under siege}, and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel.

And [as a] bread-cake of barley you shall eat it, and {with human excrement} you shall bake it before their eyes."

"And you, son of man, take for yourself a sword, sharp [as] {a barber's razor}. Take it for yourself, and you must cause [it] to pass over your head and over your beard, and you must take for yourself a set of scales for weighing, and you must divide them.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This [is] Jerusalem in the midst of the nations [where] I have put her, and countries [are] around her.

But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that [are] around her; for they rejected my regulations, and [as for] my statutes, they did not walk in them.

Therefore {as surely as I live}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, {Surely} because you have defiled my sanctuary with all of your vile idols and with all of your detestable things, {now indeed I} will reduce, and my eye will not take pity, and surely I will show no compassion.

When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send [in order] to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break {the supply of food} for you.

The one who is far [away] will die by the plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword, and the one who is being left behind and being spared will die by the famine, and I will complete my rage on them.

Now the end [is] on you, and I will send my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your detestable things.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! Disaster after disaster [is] coming!

Doom is coming against you, the dweller of the land; the time comes, the day [is] near, panic and not joy [is] on the mountains.

Look! The day is coming; doom goes out, the staff blossoms, pride sprouts.

The time has come, the day has arrived; let not the buyer rejoice, and let the seller not mourn, for anger [is] on all their multitude.

For the seller will not return to the merchandise {while they are still alive}, for the vision [is] about all of its multitude; it will not change, and a man because of his guilt will not be able to hold onto his life.

They shall blow on the trumpet and prepare {everything}, but [there is] no [one] going to the battle, for my anger [is] on all of their multitude.

The sword {is outside}, and the plague and the famine {are inside}; [the one] who [is] in the field will die by the sword, and [the one] who [is] in the city, famine and plague will devour him.

And I will give it into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked people of the earth as spoil, and they will defile it.

Make a chain for the land; it is full of {bloody crimes} and the city is full of violence.

And he said to me, "Son of man, "{Do you see} what they [are] doing--great detestable things that the house of Israel [is] committing here [so as] to drive [me] from my sanctuary, and yet {you will see again} greater detestable things."

And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel [are] doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for [they are] saying, 'Yahweh [is] not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.'"

And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that [is] toward the north, and look! There [were] the women sitting weeping for Tammuz.

{And then} {as they were striking}, and I [was] left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! "[Will] you [be] destroying all of the remnant of Israel {while you pour out your rage} on Jerusalem?"

And he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah [is] {exceedingly} great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and {Yahweh does not see}.

And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard {as far as} the outer courtyard; [it was] like the voice of God Shaddai {when he speaks}.

Their appearance {was the same for each of the four of them}, as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel.

And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creatures that I saw at the {Kebar River}.

who [are] saying, "The building of houses [is] not near; [the city] is the pot, and we [are] the flesh.

And the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, "Say, 'thus says Yahweh: "This is what you think, house of Israel, and I myself know them, the thoughts of your spirit.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Your slain ones whom you put in its midst, they [are] the flesh, and it is [the] pot, and I will bring you out from its midst.

It will not be as a pot to you, and [so] you would be in the midst of it as flesh, [for] at the border of Israel I will judge you.

And you will know that I [am] Yahweh, whose rules you did not follow, and whose regulations you did not do, but according to the regulations of the nations that [are] around you, you acted." '

And it happened [that] {as I was prophesying}, Pelatiahu the son of Benaiahu died! And I fell on my face, and I cried [with] a loud voice, and I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, you [are] making complete destruction [of] the remnant of Israel!"

"Son of man, your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, {who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem}, 'They are far from Yahweh, [therefore] to us this land was given as a possession.'

so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God.

But to the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.'"

And the glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and it stood [still] on the mountain that [is] to the east of the city.

Before their eyes, on your shoulder, you must lift up [the baggage] in the dusk, [and] your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you [as] a sign to the house of Israel."

And I did {just as} I was commanded; my baggage, like [the] baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself into the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought [the baggage] on [my] shoulder; I carried [it] before their eyes.

Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "This oracle [is about] the prince in Jerusalem and {the entire} house of Israel {who are among them}." '

Say, 'I am your sign, [and] {just as} I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into captivity they will go.'

And the prince who [is] in the midst of them, on [his] shoulder he will carry [the baggage] in the dusk, and he will go out; {the wall will be dug through} to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he will not see the land with his eye.

"Son of man, what [is] this proverb {you people have} about the land of Israel, {saying}, '{The days are prolonged}, and every vision has come to nothing.'

Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "I will put an end [to] this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel." ' But say to them, 'The days are near, and [also] the word of every vision.'

For I, Yahweh, I will speak what I will speak [as a] word, and it will be done. It will not prolong [itself] any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word and I will fulfill it!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

"Son of man, look! The house of Israel [is] saying, 'The vision that he [is] seeing [is] for many days [from now], and for distant times he [is] prophesying.'

Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "None of my words will [be] prolonged any longer that I speak [as] a word, and it will be fulfilled!" '" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Because, yes, because they led my people astray, {saying} 'Peace!' And [there is] not peace. And [when] anyone builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it [with] whitewash.

And look! [When] the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where [is] the whitewash [with] which you covered [it]?'

And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it [with] whitewash, and I will say to you, "{The wall is no more}, and {the people covering it are no more},

[that is], the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am against your magic charm bands {with which you are ensnaring persons} as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you [are] ensnaring, [treating] persons as birds.

And I will tear off your veils, and I will deliver my people from your hand, and they will not any longer be in your hand as prey, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh.

For {each person} from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself {from following me} and brings up his idols into his heart and {places before himself} a stumbling block of his guilt, and [yet] he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer him myself.

And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

so that the house of Israel will not go astray again {from me}, and they will not make themselves unclean again with all of their transgressions, and they will be for me a people, and I will be for them as God," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

[even if] these three men [were] in the midst of it, {as surely as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "surely they will not save sons and daughters; {they themselves alone}, they will be saved, but the land will be desolation.

And [if] these three men [were] in the midst of it, {as surely as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "they will not save sons and daughters, but {they alone} will be saved.

and [if] Noah, Daniel, and Job [were] in the midst of her, {as surely as I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "surely not son, surely not daughter will they save by their righteousness; they would save {themselves}."

"Son of man, how will the wood of the vine be {better than} {any of the wood of} the branch which is among the trees of the forest?

Look! It is given to the fire as fuel. The fire will consume two of its ends, and its middle will be charred. Is it useful for anything?

Look! {When it is in perfect condition}, it will not be used for anything, {how much less} {when the fire has consumed it} and it is charred; and [then] can it be used again for anything?

And [as for] your birth, {on the day you were born} your umbilical cord was not cut, and {you were not thoroughly washed clean with water}, and {you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt}, and {you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth}.

And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey [with which] I fed you, then you set it {before them} as a {pleasing odor}, and so it was,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten, {as if your whorings were not enough}.

{when you built} your mound at [the] head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet you were not like a prostitute, [as you were] scorning [your] harlot's wages.

And it was the opposite with you from the [other] women in your whorings; {no one solicited you as a prostitute}. {You gave} a harlot's wages, and harlot's wages [were] not given to you, and [so] it was [just] the opposite.

Look! Everyone quoting a proverb against you, he will quote, {saying}, 'Like her mother [is] her daughter!'

And your elder sister, she [is] Samaria, and her daughters, [who are] dwelling on your north, and your younger sister [is] the one dwelling on your south; [she] [is] Sodom and her daughters.

{As surely as I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not [do] as you and your daughters did.

And [as for] your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state.

And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, {both the older and the younger}, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant.

And look! [Though] it is planted, will it prosper? {When the east wind strikes it}, will it not dry up completely? On the garden bed of its vegetation it will dry up!" '"

{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{surely} in the place of the king {who made} him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him--in the midst of Babylon he will die.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: '{As I live}, {surely} my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head.

{As I live}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be {appropriate for you} to quote this proverb in Israel!

And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness,

[and] in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps, {performing faithfully} --[then] he is righteous, [and] certainly he will live," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Because his father {oppressed severely}; {he stole from his brother}; [that] which [is] not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through his guilt.

"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? [Is it] not your ways [that] are not fair?

And [yet] they, the house of Israel, say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [Are] not my ways fair, house of Israel? {Are not your ways unfair?}

"Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "Repent and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you.

And now [it is] planted in the desert, in a {dry and thirsty land}.

And [so] fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and [there] was not in it {a strong branch}, a scepter for ruling.'" This [is] a lament, and {it will be used as a lament}.

"Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "[Are] you coming to consult me? {As I live}, I will surely not allow myself to be consulted by you!" ' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

On that day {I swore} to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to [the] land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey--it [is the most] beautiful of all of the lands.

And also {I myself swore} to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given [to them], flowing with milk and honey--it [is the most] beautiful of all of the lands--

And treat my Sabbaths as holy, and they will be a sign between me and between you {that you may know} that I, Yahweh, [am] your God.'

What is more, {I swore} to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands,

And I said to them, 'What [is] the high place to which you are going?' And {it is called} Bamah until this day.

And {when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children} through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until {today}, and will I let myself be consulted by you, house of Israel?" ' {As I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "I will not let myself be consulted by you!