{When they went} to the four of their directions [that] they went, they did not change direction {when they went}, for the place [to] which the head turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going.

And {their whole body}, and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels [were] full of eyes [all] around--{the wheels for the four of them}.

And {each one had four faces}; the face of the one [was] the face of a cherub, and the face of the second [was the] face of a human, and the face of the third [was the] face of a lion, and the fourth [was the] face of an eagle.

{When they stood}, they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures [was] in them.

{Each one had four faces}, and [there were] four wings for each, and [the] likeness of {human hands} [was] under their wings.

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.

"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.'

Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Though I have removed them [far away] among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them [for a] little while in the countries {to which they have gone}.'"

"Son of man, you [are] dwelling in the midst of the house of rebellion {who has eyes to see and they do not see}; {they have ears to hear}, and they do not hear, for they [are] a house of rebellion.

And you, son of man, prepare for yourself [the] baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go into exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they [are] a house of rebellion.

Before their eyes dig through for yourself, through the wall, and you must bring [the baggage] out through it.

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.

For [there] will not be any longer {any false vision} or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel.

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.'

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Alas, for the foolish prophets who [are] going after their [own] spirit, {and they did not see anything}!

You did not go up into the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand [firm] in the battle on the day of Yahweh.

They saw falseness and {a lying divination}, the ones saying, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait {for the confirmation of their word}.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And [so] I will let burst forth a {windstorm} in my rage, and {there will be a torrent of rain} in my anger, and hailstones in [my] rage {for complete destruction}.

And you defiled me among my people for a handful of barley and for morsels of bread to kill persons who should not die and to keep alive persons who should not live by [means of] your lies to my people [who are] listening to [your] lies." '

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.

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.

"Son of man, when a land sins against me by {acting very unfaithfully}, then I will stretch out my hand against it, and I will break for it [the] {supply of food}, and I will send against it famine, and I will cut it off, [both] human and animal.

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "How much more when I send my four punishments--the evil sword, and famine, and fierce animal, and a plague--to Jerusalem to cut it off, [both] human and animal!

And they will console you when you see their way and their deeds, and you will know that not for nothing I did all that I did in it," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

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?

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: {Just like} the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest which I gave to the fire for fuel, so I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And I will set my face against them. From the fire they [may]{escape}, but the fire will [yet] consume them, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh {when I set my face against them}.

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}.

{No eye took pity on you} to do to you one of these [things] to show compassion for you, and you were thrown {into the open field} in [their] despising of you {on the day you were born}.

And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it [was] perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful shrines, and you prostituted on them; {this had not happened before}, and it {will not continue to happen}.

And you took {your beautiful jewelry} [made] from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself {male images}, and you prostituted with them.

'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}.

'And [then] you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square.

At [the] head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring.

And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments {before} many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot's wages you will not give again.

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.

'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it to you {according to what you have done}, who despised [the] oath to break covenant.

in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and {you will not open your mouth again} {because of} your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

so that [they would] be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant {in order for it to stand}.

And not with a great army and with a great crowd will Pharaoh work with him in the war, at the pouring out of a siege ramp and the building of siege works to destroy many lives.

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

and he oppresses {no one} [and] he returns pledge for his loan {and he commits no robbery} [and] he gives his bread to [the] hungry and he covers a naked person [with] a garment,

(though he did not do all of these [things]), for [the son] also eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor.

He oppresses [the] needy and [the] poor, [and] {he commits robbery}, [and] he [does] not return pledge for a loan, [and] he lifts his eyes to the idols [so] he does a detestable thing.

{He charges interest} and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, [for] he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.

And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and {he does not commit robbery}; he gives his bread to [the] hungry, and he covers the naked person [with] a garment.

"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?}

Throw {away from yourselves} all of your transgressions that you committed, and make {for yourselves} a new heart and new spirit, and [so] why will you die, house of Israel?

For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "And [so] repent and live!"

But it was uprooted in rage; it was thrown to the earth, and the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off, and its strong branch dried up; fire consumed it.

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}.

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.

"But I acted for the sake of my name {to keep it from being profaned} before the eyes of the nations {among whom they lived}, where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt.

and I acted for the sake of my name, [that it] not be profaned before the eyes of the nations {before whom I brought them out}.

because they despised my judgments, and {they did not walk in my statutes}, and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols.

But I withheld my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name not to be profaned before the eyes of the nations [before] whom I [had] brought them out before their eyes.

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!

"For on {my holy mountain}, on the mountain of the height of Israel," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "there all of the house of Israel will serve me, all of them, in the land. I will take pleasure in them, and there I will accept your contributions and the best of your portions with all of your holy objects.

And you will remember there your ways, and all of your deeds {by which you were made unclean}, and you will feel a loathing {for yourself} for all of your evils that you have done.

And you will know that I [am] Yahweh {when I deal with you} for the sake of my name and {not according to your evil ways} or {according to} your corrupted deeds, house of Israel," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

And you must say to the forest of the Negev, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am kindling against you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree; [the] blaze of [the] flame will not be quenched, and all the surfaces from [the] south [to] [the] north will be scorched by it.

{And then} when they say to you, 'On account of what [are] you groaning?' then you must say, 'On account of [the] report, for it [is] coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go [like] water.' Look! It [is] coming, and it will happen!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to [the] sword with my people; therefore {strike your thigh}.

For {examine}! And what if also [the] rod will not be despising?' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

so that a heart melts, and the fallen {multiply} at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, [and] alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped for slaughtering.

"And you, son of man, mark [out] for yourself two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must {both} go out from the same land. And hew [out] a {signpost}; hew [it] at [the] head of [the] road of [the] city.

You must mark a road for [the] coming of [the] sword [to] Rabbah of the {Ammonites} and [to] Judah, in Jerusalem [the] fortified.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. {He shakes the arrows}, he inquires with the teraphim, he {examines} the liver.

In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put [up] battering rams, to open mouth for slaughter, {to raise the battle cry}, to put [up] battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.

And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely in their eyes; {they have sworn oaths for themselves}. But he [will] bring [their] guilt to remembrance [so as] to seize them.

And [as for] you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with [the] time of [the] punishment of [the] end,

And you, son of man, prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the {Ammonites} and concerning their disgrace,' and you must say, 'A sword, a sword [is] drawn for slaughtering; [it is] polished for holding, {for flashing like lightning},

when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give you on [the] neck of [the] profane ones of [the] wicked, {whose day has come}, {the time of final punishment}.

And I will pour out my anger on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and I will give you into [the] hand of brutal men, skilled craftsmen of destruction.

You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.'"

And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; {its time has come}, and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean.

By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, {and your appointed years have come}. Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries.

The [people] near and the [people] far from you will make fun of you, {the unclean and the terrified}.

Look! The princes of Israel, each [one] according to his strength, they are in you {for the shedding of blood}.

And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you [have] made and at your blood that was in the midst of you.

like the gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin to the middle of a furnace to blow fire on it for melting. Thus I will gather in my anger and in my rage, and I will {deposit} you, and I will melt you.

And I will gather you, and I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and [so] I will melt [you] in the midst of her.

And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; [they are] seeing falseness and [are] practicing divination for them [by] lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken.

And [so] I sought for them somebody, one repairing [the] wall and standing in the breach {before me} on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find [anyone],

and [so] I poured out my indignation on them. With the fire of my wrath I destroyed them; I returned their way upon their head," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Now [as for] their names, the older [was] Oholah, and Oholibah [was] her sister. And {they became mine}, and they bore sons and daughters, and their names [are] Samaria [for] Oholah, and Jerusalem [for] Oholibah

And Oholah prostituted [herself] {while she was still mine}, and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria [who was] nearby,

And her whorings from [the time of] Egypt she [did] not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her.

They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her.

And she lusted for them {when her eyes saw them}, and she sent messengers to them [at] Chaldea.

And so the {Babylonians} came to her [for the] bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them.

And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and {those who are left}, they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and {your remnant} will be consumed by fire.

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I [am] giving you into the hand of those you hated, into the hand of those from whom you turned away.

You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation [is] the cup of your sister, Samaria.

And you will drink it, and you will drain [it], and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for {I myself} spoke," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.