“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

Who are you like in your greatness?

It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its limbs,
for its roots extended to abundant water.

This happened so that no trees planted beside water would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and so that no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the underworld, among the people who descend to the Pit.

“Who then are you like in glory and greatness among Eden’s trees? You also will be brought down to the underworld to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his hordes”—the declaration of the Lord God.

“Son of man, lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,
but you are like a monster in the seas.
You thrash about in your rivers,
churn up the waters with your feet,
and muddy the rivers.”

I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

I will cause many nations to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with fear because of you
when I brandish My sword in front of them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment for his life.

For this is what the Lord God says:

The sword of Babylon’s king
will come against you!

Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Among the slain
they prepare a resting place for Elam
with all her hordes.
Her graves are all around her.
All of them are uncircumcised,
slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
They are placed among the slain.

They do not lie down
with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,
who went down to Sheol
with their weapons of war,
whose swords were placed under their heads.
The punishment for their sins
rested on their bones,
although the terror of these warriors
was once in the land of the living.

Pharaoh will see them
and be comforted over all his hordes—
Pharaoh and all his army,
slain by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

For I will spread My terror
in the land of the living,
so Pharaoh and all his hordes
will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

However, if the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn’t blow the trumpet, so that the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives, then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.

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

If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have said this, ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy on us, and we are wasting away because of them! How then can we survive?’

he returns collateral, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—he will certainly live; he will not die.

“But your people say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair,’ even though it is their own way that isn’t fair.

Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered.

My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

As I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“because My flock has become prey and food for every wild animal since they lack a shepherd, for My shepherds do not search for My flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than My flock,

“This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against the shepherds. I will demand My flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue My flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.

“For this is what the Lord God says: See, I Myself will search for My flock and look for them.

As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day.

Isn’t it enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Or isn’t it enough that you drink the clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey for you. I will judge between one sheep and another.

They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild animals of the land will not consume them. They will live securely, and no one will frighten them.

I will establish for them a place renowned for its agriculture, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land. They will no longer endure the insults of the nations.

therefore, as I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“I will destine you for bloodshed, and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.

therefore, prophesy and say: This is what the Lord God says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you from every side, so that you became a possession for the rest of the nations and an object of people’s gossip and slander,

“You, mountains of Israel, will produce your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel, since their arrival is near.

Then I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.

“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went.

“For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

“Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices.

It is not for your sake that I will act”—the declaration of the Lord God—“let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!

“This is what the Lord God says: I will respond to the house of Israel and do this for them: I will multiply them in number like a flock.

So the ruined cities will be filled with a flock of people, just as the flock of sheep for sacrifice is filled in Jerusalem during its appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”

He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!”

My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances, and keep My statutes and obey them.

“This is what the Lord God says: Are you the one I spoke about in former times through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who for years prophesied in those times that I would bring you against them?

I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains”—the declaration of the Lord God—“and every man’s sword will be against his brother.

I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone on him, as well as his troops and the many peoples who are with him.

“As for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

You will fall on the open field, for I have spoken.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“I will send fire against Magog and those who live securely on the coasts and islands. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

“Then the inhabitants of Israel’s cities will go out, kindle fires, and burn the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them to make fires.

They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it down from the forests, for they will use the weapons to make fires. They will take the loot from those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“Now on that day I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel—the Valley of the Travelers east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, for Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.

“Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: Tell every kind of bird and all the wild animals: Assemble and come! Gather from all around to My sacrificial feast that I am slaughtering for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel; you will eat flesh and drink blood.

You will eat fat until you are satisfied and drink blood until you are drunk, at My sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you.

“So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.

They will feel remorse for their disgrace and all the unfaithfulness they committed against Me, when they live securely in their land with no one to frighten them.

I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

He spoke to me: “Son of man, look with your eyes, listen with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for you have been brought here so that I might show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.”

So there were four tables inside the gate and four outside, eight tables in all on which the slaughtering was to be done.

There were also four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering, each 31½ inches long, 31½ inches wide, and 21 inches high. The utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices were placed on them.

Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, there were chambers for the singers: one beside the north gate, facing south, and another beside the south gate, facing north.

Then the man said to me: “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple.

The chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the ones from the sons of Levi who may approach the Lord to serve Him.”

The side rooms were arranged one above another in three stories of 30 rooms each. There were ledges on the wall of the temple all around to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be in the temple wall itself.

The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive story, for the structure surrounding the temple went up by stages. This was the reason for the temple’s broadness as it rose. And so, one would go up from the lowest story to the highest by means of the middle one.

I saw that the temple had a raised platform surrounding it; this foundation for the side rooms was 10½ feet high.

The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was 8¾ feet. The free space between the side rooms of the temple

The side rooms opened into the free space, one entrance toward the north and another to the south. The area of free space was 8¾ feet wide all around.

reaching to the top of the entrance, and as far as the inner temple and on the outside. On every wall all around, on the inside and outside, was a pattern

and each of the doors had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other.

For they were arranged in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and middle stories.

For the chambers on the outer court were 87½ feet long, while those facing the great hall were 175 feet long.

Then the man said to me, “The northern and southern chambers that face the temple yard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and restitution offerings—for the place is holy.

Once the priests have entered, they must not go out from the holy area to the outer court until they have removed the clothes they minister in, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the public area.”

He measured the temple complex on all four sides. It had a wall all around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy from the common.

He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel and their kings will no longer defile My holy name by their religious prostitution and by the corpses of their kings at their high places.

Now let them remove their prostitution and the corpses of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell among them forever.

“As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure its pattern,

The altar hearth is seven feet high, and four horns project upward from the hearth.

The ledge is 24½ feet long by 24½ feet wide, with four equal sides. The rim all around it is 10½ inches, and its gutter is 21 inches all around it. The altar’s steps face east.”

Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it:

“You must take some of its blood and apply it to the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim. In this way you will purify the altar and make atonement for it.

Then you must take away the bull for the sin offering, and it must be burned outside the sanctuary in the place appointed for the temple.

You will offer a goat for a sin offering each day for seven days. A young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished, must also be offered.

For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it. In this way they will consecrate it

You have not kept charge of My holy things but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.

Yet they will occupy My sanctuary, serving as guards at the temple gates and ministering at the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and will stand before them to serve them.

Yet I will make them responsible for the duties of the temple—for all its work and everything done in it.

A priest may not come near a dead person so that he becomes defiled. However, he may defile himself for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister.

After he is cleansed, he is to count off seven days for himself.

In this area there will be a square section for the sanctuary, 875 by 875 feet, with 87½ feet of open space all around it.

It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

There will be another area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide for the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns to live in.

“As the property of the city, you must set aside an area 1⅔ of a mile wide and 8⅓ miles long, adjacent to the holy donation of land. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

“This is what the Lord God says: You have gone too far, princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of My people.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

And the quota from the flock is one animal out of every 200 from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the people.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“All the people of the land must take part in this contribution for the prince in Israel.

Then the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed times of the house of Israel—will be the prince’s responsibility. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

The priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering and apply it to the temple doorposts, the four corners of the altar’s ledge, and the doorposts of the gate to the inner court.

You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple.