Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be around him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.

How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.

And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and in the indignation of his anger hath despised the king and the priest.

The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

My eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.

What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not revealed thy iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

All thy enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

Their heart cried to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thy eye cease.

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured her foundations.

The punishment of thy iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thy iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will disclose thy sins.

They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.

Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.

The word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

And he said to me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee.

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

And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

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

Moreover he said to me, Son of man, eat what thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.

And he said to me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

And he said to me, Son of man, depart, go to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them.

Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thy ears.

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

Nevertheless if thou shalt warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem;

Moreover take thou to thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment.

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take to thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Son of man, set thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD to the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.

Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up thy eyes now the way towards the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way towards the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

He said furthermore to me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should withdraw from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

Then said he to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

Then said he to me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

Then said he to me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs towards the temple of the LORD, and their faces towards the east; and they worshiped the sun towards the east.

Then he said to me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and lo, they put the branch to their nose.

Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east-gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and behold, at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Then said he to me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:

Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Retire far from the LORD: to us is this land given in possession.

Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.

Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight; it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou mayest not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign to the house of Israel.

Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to thee, What doest thou?

Say, I am your sign: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall remove and go into captivity.

Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with solicitude.

Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?

Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are distant.

Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou to them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it, although I have not spoken?

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.

Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall deliver their own souls only by their righteousness.

Son of man, What is the vine-tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

If he begetteth a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,

Now lo, if he begetteth a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,

Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

Son of man, set thy face towards the south, and drop thy word towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;

Son of man, set thy face towards Jerusalem, and drop thy word towards the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

It is sharpened to make a grievous slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their private chambers.

Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both ways shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yes, thou shalt show her all her abominations.

Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

Son of man, say to her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

And as soon as she saw them with her eyes she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.