Our eyes are still wasting away in looking for our false help: we have been watching for a nation unable to give salvation.

They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

Our heritage is given up to men of strange lands, our houses to those who are not our countrymen.

We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.

We are fain to drink our own water for money, and our own wood must we buy with money.

Our necks are under persecution: we labor, and have no rest.

Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

Servants are ruling over us, and there is no one to make us free from their hands.

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

Princes are hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.

they have taken young men's lives from them, and the boys are hanged up upon trees.

Elders are no longer at the gate, young men no longer play stringed instruments.

The crown has been taken from our head: sorrow is ours, for we are sinners.

For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.

For wild animals are prowling over Mount Zion, which lies desolate.

You, O Lord, are seated as King for ever; the seat of your power is eternal.

Unless you have utterly rejected us, unless you are angry with us beyond measure.

and four faces are to each, and four wings are to each of them,

and their feet are straight feet, and the sole of their feet is as a sole of a calf's foot, and they are sparkling as the colour of bright brass;

and hands of man under their wings -- on their four sides, and their faces and their wings -- are to them four;

joining one unto another are their wings, they turn not round in their going, each straight forward they go.

As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right are to them four, and the face of an ox on the left are to them four, and the face of an eagle are to them four.

And their faces and their wings are separate from above, to each are two joining together, and two are covering their bodies.

As to the likeness of the living creatures, their appearances are as coals of fire -- burning as the appearance of lamps; it is going up and down between the living creatures, and brightness is to the fire, and out of the fire is going forth lightning.

And the living creatures are running, and turning back, as the appearance of the flash.

The appearance of the wheels and their works is as the colour of beryl, and one likeness is to them four, and their appearances and their works are as it were the wheel in the midst of the wheel.

As to their rings, they are both high and fearful, and their rings are full of eyes round about them four.

And in the going of the living creatures, the wheels go beside them, and in the living creatures being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels.

Whither the spirit is to go, they go, thither the spirit is to go, and the wheels are lifted up over-against them, for a living spirit is in the wheels.

In their going, they go; and in their standing, they stand; and in their being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels over-against them; for a living spirit is in the wheels.

And under the expanse their wings are straight, one toward the other, to each are two covering on this side, and to each are two covering on that side -- their bodies.

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

For they are impudent children and obstinate in heart. I send thee to them; and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.

And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

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.

And thou shalt speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

"Son of Man, you are to listen to what I tell you. You are never to be rebellious like they are: a rebellious group. Now, open your mouth and eat what I'm giving you""

and He spreadeth it before me, and it is written in front and behind, and written on it are lamentations, and mourning, and woe!

For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people {of obscure speech} and {of a difficult language},

Not to a number of peoples whose talk is strange and whose language is hard and whose words are not clear to you. Truly, if I sent you to them they would give ear to you.

But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee; for they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

So pay attention! I'm going to make you just as obstinate and unyielding as they are.

As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

And I come in unto the Removed, at Tel-Ahib, who are dwelling at the river Chebar, and where they are dwelling I also dwell seven days, causing astonishment in their midst.

"Son of Man," he said, "I've appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me.

And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.

But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

"And now Son of Man, you are to take a brick, set it in front of you, and inscribe on it the outline of the city that is, Jerusalem.

You are to lay siege against it, build a rampart around it, set a bulwark against it, encircle it with a berm, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it.

Then you are to take a flat, iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. "Next, you are to turn toward it, oppose it, and place it under siege, because you are to lay siege to it. All of this will serve as a sign to the house of Israel.

Then, stretching yourself out on your left side, take the sin of the children of Israel on yourself: for as long as you are stretched out, so long will the sin of the children of Israel be on you.

I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days for you -- 390 days. So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

And when these days are ended, turning on your right side, you are to take on yourself the sin of the children of Judah: forty days, a day for a year, I have had it fixed for you.

After this, you are to turn toward the rampart of Jerusalem and oppose it with your bare arms, because I'm going to prophesy about it.

And see, I will put bands on you; and you will be stretched out without turning from one side to the other till the days of your attack are ended.

"And you, take for yourself wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and spelt, and you must put them in one vessel, and you must make them for yourself into a food [during] the number of days that you [are] lying on your side; three hundred and ninety days you shall eat it.

And you are to take your food by weight, twenty shekels a day: you are to take it at regular times.

And you are to take water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: you are to take it at regular times.

You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel."

"Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.

Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

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

Then you are to take a few strands, throw them in the fire, and incinerate them. A fire will proceed to the house of Israel from there."

Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are around her.

And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are around her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are around you:

Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter to all the winds the remnant of you.

Thy third part -- by pestilence they die, And by famine are consumed in thy midst, And the third part, by sword they fall round about thee, And the third part, to every wind I scatter, And a sword I draw out after them.

Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are around thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment to the nations that are around thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.

when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread;

You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

In all your dwellings the cities are laid waste, And the high places are desolate, So that waste and desolate are your altars, And broken and ceased have your idols, And cut down have been your images, And blotted out have been your works.

Yet will I leave a remnant: In that ye shall have such as are escaped of the sword throughout the nations, when ye are scattered throughout the lands.

And those of you who are kept safe will have me in mind among the nations where they have been taken away as prisoners, how I sent punishment on their hearts which were untrue to me, and on their eyes which were turned to their false gods: and they will be full of hate for themselves because of the evil things which they have done in all their disgusting ways.

Whoso is far off, shall die of the pestilence; he that is nigh at hand shall perish with the sword; and the others that are besieged shall die of hunger. Thus will I satisfy my wrathful displeasure upon them.

So shall ye know that I, am Yahweh, In that their slain are in the midst of their manufactured gods, on every side of their altars, - Upon every high hl In all the tops of the mountains and Under every green tree and Under every tangled oak, The place where they offered a satisfying odour to all their manufactured gods.

"Son of Man, this is what Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: "It's over! All four corners of the land are out of time!

And no pity on thee hath Mine eye, nor do I spare, For thy ways against thee I do set, And thine abominations are in thy midst, And ye have known that I am Jehovah.

Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains.

And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thy abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.

Violence hath risen up as a sceptre of lawlessness, - There are none of them And none of their multitude And none of their throngs And no lamentation over them.

For the seller will not return to the merchandise {while they are still alive}, for the vision [is] about all of its multitude; it will not change, and a man because of his guilt will not be able to hold onto his life.

The sword {is outside}, and the plague and the famine {are inside}; [the one] who [is] in the field will die by the sword, and [the one] who [is] in the city, famine and plague will devour him.

All the hands are feeble, and all knees go -- waters.

The king doth become a mourner, And a prince putteth on desolation, And the hands of the people of the land are troubled, From their own way I deal with them, And with their own judgments I judge them, And they have known that I am Jehovah!'

And it cometh to pass, in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth of the month, I am sitting in my house, and elders of Judah are sitting before me, and fall on me there doth a hand of the Lord Jehovah,

Then said he unto me, Son of man Canst thou see what they are doing, - the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, that I should go faraway from my sanctuary? Howbeit yet again, shalt thou see great abominations.

Then said he unto me, - Go in, and see the wicked abominations. which they are committing here.

and seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel -- and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst -- are standing before them, and each his censer in his hand, and the abundance of the cloud of perfume is going up.

Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen Son of man what the elders of the house of Israel, are doing in the dark, every man in his image-chambers? for they are saying - Yahweh doth not see us! Yahweh hath forsaken the land!

Then said he unto me, - Yet again, shalt thou see great abominations, which they are committing.

And He bringeth me in unto the opening of the gate of the house of Jehovah that is at the north, and lo, there the women are sitting weeping for Tammuz.

He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater repulsive acts than these [that they are committing].”

And He bringeth me in unto the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and lo, at the opening of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, about twenty-five men, their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces eastward, and they are bowing themselves eastward to the sun.

Then said he unto me Hast thou seen O son of man? Is it too small a thing for the house of Judah, to be committing the abominations which they have committed here, - that they have fled the land with violence and have again provoked me to anger and there they are! putting the branch to my nose.

Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, "Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand."

And lo, six men are coming from the way of the upper gate, that is facing the north, and each his slaughter-weapon in his hand, and one man in their midst is clothed with linen, and a scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and they come in, and stand near the brazen altar.

And the LORD said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst of it.