ב BetZion’s precious people—
once worth their weight in pure gold—
how they are regarded as clay jars,
the work of a potter’s hands!

ג GimelEven jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my dear people have become cruel
like ostriches in the wilderness.

ד DaletThe nursing infant’s tongue
clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.
Little children beg for bread,
but no one gives them any.

ה HeThose who used to eat delicacies
are destitute in the streets;
those who were reared in purple garments
huddle in garbage heaps.

ו VavThe punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand laid on it.

ח KhetNow they appear darker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become dry like wood.

י YodThe hands of compassionate women
have cooked their own children;
they became their food
during the destruction of my dear people.

כ KafThe Lord has exhausted His wrath,
poured out His burning anger;
He has ignited a fire in Zion,
and it has consumed her foundations.

ל LamedThe kings of the earth
and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe
that an enemy or adversary
could enter Jerusalem’s gates.

נ NunBlind, they stumbled in the streets,
defiled by this blood,
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.

ע AyinAll the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for assistance;
we watched from our towers
for a nation that refused to help.

צ TsadeOur steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near; our time ran out.
Our end had come!

ק QofThose who chased us were swifter
than eagles in the sky;
they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.

ר ReshThe Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,
was captured in their traps.
We had said about him,
“We will live under his protection among the nations.”

We are closely pursued;
we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

Slaves rule over us;
no one rescues us from their hands.

We secure our food at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the wilderness.

Our skin is as hot as an oven
from the ravages of hunger.

Women are raped in Zion,
girls in the cities of Judah.

because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate
and has jackals prowling in it.

Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return;
renew our days as in former times,

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, while I was among the exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.

On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile—

the word of the Lord came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar Canal. And the Lord’s hand was on him there.

I looked and there was a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber.

They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings.

Their wings were touching. The creatures did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.

The form of each of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle.

When I looked at the living creatures, there was one wheel on the ground beside each creature that had four faces.

When they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved.

So when the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels also rose.

Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, the creatures went in the direction the Spirit was moving. The wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; and when the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

The shape of an expanse, with a gleam like awe-inspiring crystal, was spread out over the heads of the living creatures.

And under the expanse their wings extended one toward another. Each of them also had two wings covering their bodies.

When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty, and a sound of commotion like the noise of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

A voice came from above the expanse over their heads; when they stood still, they lowered their wings.

The shape of a throne with the appearance of sapphire stone was above the expanse. There was a form with the appearance of a human on the throne high above.

The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the form of the Lord’s glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak with you.”

As He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I listened to the One who was speaking to me.

“But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words, though briers and thorns are beside you and you live among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words or be discouraged by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house.

So I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and there was a written scroll in it.

When He unrolled it before me, it was written on the front and back; words of lamentation, mourning, and woe were written on it.

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

I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, even though they are a rebellious house.”

The Spirit then lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me—praise the glory of the Lord in His place!—

So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I left in bitterness and in an angry spirit, and the Lord’s hand was on me powerfully.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

If I say to the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him—you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

Then the hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and I will speak with you there.”

The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

And you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so you cannot go out among them.

But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Let the one who listens, listen, and let the one who refuses, refuse—for they are a rebellious house.

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

Then lay siege against it: construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides.

Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

“Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.

When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.

Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.

“Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days.

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

You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight.”

Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure.

You are to burn up a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended; you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, for I will draw a sword to chase after them.

But you are to take a few strands from the hair and secure them in the folds of your robe.

Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it. A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.

“This is what the Lord God says: I have set this Jerusalem in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

But she has rebelled against My ordinances with more wickedness than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that surround her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have been more insubordinate than the nations around you—you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances; you have not even kept the ordinances of the nations around you—

therefore, this is what the Lord God says: See, I am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments within you in the sight of the nations.

A third of your people will die by plague and be consumed by famine within you; a third will fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter a third to every direction of the wind, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.

When My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath on them, I will be appeased. Then after I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in My jealousy.

“I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.

So you will be a disgrace and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and furious rebukes. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

When I shoot deadly arrows of famine at them, arrows for destruction that I will send to destroy you, inhabitants of Jerusalem, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of bread.

Your altars will be desolated and your incense altars smashed. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.

I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.

Wherever you live the cities will be in ruins and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will lie in ruins and be desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.

“Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, for throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword.

And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.

The one who is far off will die by plague; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust My wrath on them.

You will all know that I am Yahweh when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak—the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols.

“Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel:

An end! The end has come
on the four corners of the land.

The end is now upon you;
I will send My anger against you
and judge you according to your ways.
I will punish you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you,
but I will punish you for your ways
and for your detestable practices within you.
Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

This is what the Lord God says:

Look, one disaster after another is coming!

An end has come; the end has come!
It has awakened against you.
Look, it is coming!

Doom has come on you,
inhabitants of the land.
The time has come; the day is near.
There will be panic on the mountains
and not celebration.

I will pour out My wrath on you very soon;
I will exhaust My anger against you
and judge you according to your ways.
I will punish you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you.
I will punish you for your ways
and for your detestable practices within you.
Then you will know
that it is I, Yahweh, who strikes.

The time has come; the day has arrived.
Let the buyer not rejoice
and the seller not mourn,
for wrath is on all her masses.

They have blown the trumpet
and prepared everything,
but no one goes to war,
for My wrath is on all her masses.

The sword is on the outside;
plague and famine are on the inside.
Whoever is in the field will die by the sword,
and famine and plague will devour
whoever is in the city.

The survivors among them will escape
and live on the mountains
like doves of the valley,
all of them moaning,
each over his own iniquity.

They will put on sackcloth,
and horror will overwhelm them.
Shame will cover all their faces,
and all their heads will be bald.

They will throw their silver into the streets,
and their gold will seem like something filthy.
Their silver and gold will be unable to save them
in the day of the Lord’s wrath.
They will not satisfy their appetites
or fill their stomachs,
for these were the stumbling blocks
that brought about their iniquity.

So I will bring the most evil of nations
to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the pride of the strong,
and their sacred places will be profaned.

The king will mourn;
the prince will be clothed in grief;
and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their own conduct,
and I will judge them by their own standards.
Then they will know that I am Yahweh.