And he said to me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

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.

He said also to me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

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.

Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.

And behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth towards the north, and every man a slaughter-weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in and stood beside the brazen altar.

Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the elderly men who were before the house.

And he said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

Then said he to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.

And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.

When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked, they followed it; they turned not as they went.

And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes on every side, even the wheels that they four had.

When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east-gate of the LORD'S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Kebar; and I knew that they were the cherubim.

And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Kebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

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.

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

And they shall come thither, and they shall take away from thence all its detestable things, and all its abominations.

That they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

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.

Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at evening in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.

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

And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.

And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

And say to the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with solicitude, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.

Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say to them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

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.

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.

And my hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar:

Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say to you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;

Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall no more be in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh to him;

That the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver their own souls only by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they lay it waste, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:

Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

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.

Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.

And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

They give gifts to all lewd women: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come to thee on every side for thy lewdness.

Behold therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them on every side against thee, and will uncover thy nakedness to them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thy abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thy abominations which thou hast done.

Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thy own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yes, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

But he rebelled against him in sending his embassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?

And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered towards all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.

In the mountain of the hight of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned to him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.

The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.

And they put him in custody in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken to me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth from the land of Egypt.

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.

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man doeth, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

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.

Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man doeth, he shall even live in them: they profaned my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they should not live;

And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all the first-born, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

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.

For when I had brought them into the land, for which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink-offerings.

And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

And it shall be, when they say to thee, Why sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.

And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

While they see vanity to thee, while they divine a lie to thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they oppressed the fatherless and the widow.

In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.

In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained from thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

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.

As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst of her.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

And they committed lewd deeds in Egypt; they committed lewd deeds in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they were first corrupted.

And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

Neither left she her lewd deeds brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they first corrupted her, and poured their impurities upon her.

These uncovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way.

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lewdness, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.

And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet on every side: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thy ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.