Ezekiel

 

Chapter 1

 

1 And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, that I was in the midst of the captivity by the river Chobar, and the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God;

 

2 on the fifth of the month ,

 

3 and the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chobar; and the hand of the Lord came upon me.

 

4 And I looked, and behold, a sweeping wind came from the north, and a great cloud was in it, and brightness round about it, and flashing fire, and in the midst of it something like the appearance of amber in the midst of the fire, and brightness in it.

 

5 And in the midst was the likeness of four living creatures; and this was their appearance: the likeness of a man was upon them,

 

6 and each had four faces, and each had four wings.

 

7 And their legs were straight, and their feet were winged, and there were sparks like flashing bronze, and their wings were light.

 

8 And the hand of a man was underneath their wings on their four sides; and the faces of the four

 

9 did not turn as they went; each went straight forward.

 

10 And the likeness of their faces: the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right for the four, and the face of a calf on the left for the four, and the face of an eagle for the four.

 

11 And their wings were spread out above for the four, for each two joined to one another, and two covered over their bodies.

 

12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was going, they went, and did not turn back.

 

13 And in the midst of the living creatures was an appearance like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches whirling among the living creatures, and the brightness of the fire, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

 

15 And I looked, and behold, one wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, for the four;

 

16 and the appearance of the wheels was like the appearance of tharsis, and the four had one likeness, and their work was as if there were a wheel within a wheel.

 

17 They went upon their four sides; they did not turn as they went,

 

18 nor did their rims; and they had height; and I saw them, and their rims were full of eyes round about for the four.

 

19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them, and when the living creatures rose up from the earth, the wheels rose up.

 

20 Wherever the cloud was, there was the spirit to go; the living creatures went, and the wheels, and they rose up with them, because a spirit of life was in the wheels.

 

21 When they went, these went; and when they stood, these stood; and when they rose up from the earth, these rose up with them, for a spirit of life was in the wheels.

 

22 And there was a likeness over the heads of the living creatures, like a firmament, like the appearance of crystal, stretched out over their wings above;

 

23 and beneath the firmament their wings were stretched out, flapping one toward another, for each two joined together, covering their bodies.

 

24 And I heard the sound of their wings as they went, like the sound of much water; and when they stood, their wings ceased.

 

25 And behold, a voice from above the firmament that was over their heads.

 

26 Like the appearance of a sapphire stone was the likeness of a throne upon it, and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the form of a man above.

 

27 And I saw as it were the appearance of amber from the appearance of the loins and upward, and from the appearance of the loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and its brightness round about.

 

28 As the appearance of a bow when it is in the cloud on a day of rain, so was the setting of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord; and I saw, and I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

 

Chapter 2

 

1 And he said to me, "Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak to you."

 

2 And a spirit came upon me and took me up and raised me and set me upon my feet, and I heard him speaking to me,

 

3 and he said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, those who embitter me, who have embittered me—they and their fathers, to this very day,

 

4 and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord.'

 

5 Whether they hear or are frightened, for it is an embittering house—they shall know that you are a prophet in their midst.

 

6 And you, son of man, do not fear them nor be dismayed before their face, for they will rage madly and gather together against you round about, and you dwell in the midst of scorpions; do not fear their words nor be dismayed before their face, for it is an embittering house.

 

7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or are frightened, for it is an embittering house.

 

8 And you, son of man, hear him who speaks to you; do not become embittering like the embittering house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."

 

9 And I looked, and behold, a hand stretched out toward me, and in it a scroll of a book;

 

10 and he unrolled it before me, and in it was written the back and the front, and there was written upon it lamentation and song and woe.

 

Chapter 3

 

1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll and go and speak to the sons of Israel."

 

2 And I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.

 

3 And he said to me, "Son of man, your mouth shall eat, and your belly shall be filled with this scroll that is given to you." And I ate it, and it became in my mouth as sweet as honey.

 

4 And he said to me, "Son of man, go, enter the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

 

5 For you are not being sent to a people of deep lips and heavy tongue, but to the house of Israel,

 

6 nor to many peoples of foreign speech or foreign tongue, nor of a difficult tongue, whose words you would not understand; and if I had sent you to such people, they would have listened to you.

 

 

7 But the house of Israel will by no means be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me; for all the house of Israel are contentious and hard-hearted.

 

8 And behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your resolve against their resolve,

 

9 and it shall be at all times stronger than rock. Do not be afraid of them nor be terrified before their face, for it is a provoking house."

 

10 And he said to me, "Son of man, all the words that I have spoken with you, take into your heart and hear with your ears,

 

11 and go, enter into the captivity, to the sons of your people, and you shall speak to them and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord'—whether they will hear, whether they will yield."

 

12 And a spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great quaking: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place."

 

13 And I saw the sound of the wings of the living creatures beating one against the other, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of the quaking.

 

14 And the spirit lifted me up and took me, and I went in the impulse of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord came mightily upon me.

 

15 And I entered into the captivity, borne aloft, and I went around among those dwelling by the river Chobar who were there, and I sat there seven days, moving about in their midst.

 

16 And it came to pass after the seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them from me.

 

18 When I say to the lawless man, 'You shall surely die,' and you did not warn him nor speak to warn the lawless man to turn from his ways so that he might live, that lawless man shall die in his iniquity, and his blood I will require at your hand.

 

19 But if you warn the lawless man, and he does not turn from his lawlessness and from his way, that lawless man shall die in his iniquity, and you will have delivered your soul.

 

20 And when a righteous man turns from his righteous deeds and commits a transgression, and I put the trial before his face, he shall die, because you did not warn him; and he shall die in his sins, for his righteous deeds which he did shall not be remembered, and his blood I will require at your hand.

 

21 But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, the righteous man shall surely live, because you warned him, and you will have delivered your own soul."

 

22 And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he said to me, "Arise and go out into the plain, and there it shall be spoken to you."

 

23 And I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, there the glory of the Lord stood, like the vision and like the glory which I saw at the river Chobar; and I fell upon my face.

 

24 And a spirit came upon me and set me on my feet, and he spoke to me and said to me, "Go in and shut yourself inside your house.

 

25 And you, son of man, behold, bonds are appointed for you, and they will bind you with them, and you shall not go out from among them.

 

26 And I will bind your tongue, and you shall be made mute, and you shall not be to them as a man who reproves, for it is a provoking house.

 

27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord: Let him who hears, hear, and let him who disobeys, disobey,' for it is a provoking house."

 

Chapter 4

 

1 And you, son of man, take for yourself a brick and set it before your face, and draw upon it the city of Jerusalem,

 

2 and lay siege against it, and build siege-works against it, and cast up a rampart against it, and set camps against it, and station the engine emplacements round about.

 

3 And you, take for yourself an iron pan and set it as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and set your face against it, and it shall be under siege, and you shall besiege it; this is a sign to the sons of Israel.

 

4 And you shall lie upon your left side, and you shall lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days, one hundred and fifty, during which you shall lie upon it, and you shall bear their iniquities.

 

5 And I have given you their two iniquities for a number of days, one hundred and ninety days; and you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel,

 

6 and you shall complete all these things; and you shall lie upon your right side and bear the iniquities of the house of Judah forty days. A day for a year I have appointed you.

 

7 And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and you shall strengthen your arm, and you shall prophesy against it.

 

8 And behold, I have put bonds upon you, and you shall not turn from your side to your other side, until the days of your siege are completed. —

 

9 And you, take for yourself wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and spelt, and put them into one earthen vessel, and make them into loaves for yourself; and according to the number of the days during which you lie upon your side, one hundred and ninety days, you shall eat them.

 

10 And your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it.

 

11 And you shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from time to time you shall drink.

 

12 And you shall eat them as a barley cake baked in ashes; you shall bake them in lumps of human dung before their eyes,

 

13 and you shall say, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Thus shall the sons of Israel eat unclean things among the nations.

 

14 And I said, By no means, Lord, God of Israel; behold, my soul has not been defiled with uncleanness, and I have not eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts from my birth until now, nor has any stale meat entered my mouth.

 

15 And he said to me, Behold, I have given you cattle dung instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your loaves upon it.

 

16 And he said to me, Son of man, behold, I am breaking the support of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and in want, and they shall drink water by measure and in desolation,

 

17 so that they may become in want of bread and water; and a man and his brother shall be made desolate, and they shall waste away in their iniquities.

 

Chapter 5

 

1 And you, son of man, take for yourself a sword sharper than a barber's razor; acquire it for yourself, and you shall pass it over your head and over your beard. And you shall take a balance of weights and divide them:

 

2 a fourth part you shall burn up in the fire in the midst of the city at the fulfillment of the days of the siege; and you shall take a fourth part and burn it up in her midst; and a fourth part you shall cut down with the sword round about her; and a fourth part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

 

3 And you shall take from there a few in number and wrap them up in your garment.

 

4 And of these you shall take yet again and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them up in the fire; from her fire shall come forth. And you shall say to all the house of Israel:

 

5 Thus says the Lord: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her.

 

6 And you shall declare my ordinances to her who is lawless beyond the nations, and my statutes beyond the countries that are round about her; for they rejected my ordinances and did not walk in my statutes.

 

7 Therefore thus says the Lord: Because your occasion has come from the nations round about you, and you did not walk in my statutes and did not perform my ordinances, no, not even according to the ordinances of the nations round about you have you done

 

8 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you, and I will execute judgment in your midst before the nations,

 

 9 and I will do in you what I have not done and the like of which I will not do again, because of all your abominations.

 

10 Therefore fathers shall eat children in your midst, and children shall eat fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all your remnant to every wind.

 

11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord, surely because you have defiled my holy things with all your abominations, I also will reject you; my eye shall not spare, and I will show no mercy.

 

12 A fourth part of you shall be consumed by pestilence, and a fourth part of you shall be finished by famine in your midst; and a fourth part of you, I will scatter them to every wind; and a fourth part of you shall fall by the sword round about you, and I will draw out a sword after them.

 

13 And my fury shall be accomplished, and my wrath upon them, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath upon them.

 

14 And I will make you a desolation, and your daughters round about you, before everyone passing through,

 

15 and you shall be a thing groaned over and pitiable among the nations round about you, when I execute judgments in you in the vengeance of my fury; I the Lord have spoken.

 

16 When I send out my arrows of famine upon them, they shall be for destruction, and I will break the staff of your bread.

 

17 And I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and I will take vengeance on you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring a sword upon you from every side; I the Lord have spoken.

 

Chapter 6

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them,

 

3 and you shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord to the mountains and to the hills and to the ravines and to the valleys: Behold, I am bringing a sword upon you, and your high places shall be utterly destroyed,

 

4 and your altars shall be broken in pieces, and your sacred precincts, and I will cast down your slain before your idols,

 

5 and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

 

6 In all your habitation the cities shall be made desolate and the high places shall be destroyed, so that your altars may be utterly destroyed, and your idols shall be broken, and your sacred precincts shall be removed,

 

7 and the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

8 When there are among you those escaping from the sword among the nations, and in your dispersion among the countries,

 

9 then those of you who escape shall remember me among the nations where they were taken captive; I have sworn against their heart that goes whoring away from me, and against their eyes that go whoring after their practices, and they shall smite their faces because of all their abominations;

 

10 and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken.

 

11 Thus says the Lord: Clap your hand and stamp your foot and say, Well done, well done, over all the abominations of the house of Israel; by sword and by pestilence and by famine they shall fall.

 

12 He who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is far off shall die by pestilence, and he who is besieged shall be consumed by famine, and I will accomplish my wrath upon them.

 

13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain are in the midst of your idols around your altars, upon every high hill and beneath every shady tree, where they offered a pleasing odor to all their idols.

 

14 And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a destruction, from the wilderness of Deblatha, throughout all their habitation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 7

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 And you, son of man, say: Thus says the Lord to the land of Israel: An end has come, the end has come upon the four wings of the land;

 

3 the end has come

 

4 upon you who dwell in the land; the time has come, the day has drawn near, not with tumults nor with pangs.

 

5 Now from close at hand I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will spend my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring upon you all your abominations.

 

6 My eye shall not spare, nor will I have mercy, because I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be in your midst; and you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes.

 

7 Now the end is upon you, and I will send upon you and take vengeance on you for your ways, and I will bring upon you all your abominations.

 

8 My eye shall not spare you, nor will I have mercy, because I will bring your way upon you, and your abominations shall be in your midst; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

9 For thus says the Lord:

 

10 Behold, the end has come; behold, the day of the Lord: even though the rod has blossomed, insolence has sprung up.

 

11 And he shall crush the support of the lawless man, and not with tumult nor with haste.

 

12 The time has come; behold, the day: let him who acquires not rejoice, and let him who sells not lament;

 

13 for he who acquires shall never return to him who sells, and a man shall not prevail in the eye of his life.

 

14 Sound the trumpet and judge all things together.

 

15 War with the sword is outside, and famine and death within: he who is in the field shall die by the sword, and famine and death shall consume those in the city.

 

16 And those of them who escape shall be saved and shall be upon the mountains: I will slay them all, each in his iniquities.

 

17 All hands shall grow weak, and all thighs shall be defiled with wetness,

 

18 and they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and terror shall cover them, and shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon every head.

 

19 Their silver shall be cast into the streets, and their gold shall be despised; their souls shall not be satisfied, and their bellies shall not be filled; for it became the torment of their iniquities.

 

20 The choice ornaments they made into pride, and out of them they made images of their abominations; therefore I have given these things to them for uncleanness.

 

21 And I will deliver them into the hands of strangers to plunder them, and to the pests of the earth as spoil, and they shall profane them.

 

22 And I will turn away my face from them, and they shall defile my visitation, and they shall enter into them unguarded and profane them.

 

23 And they shall make confusion, because the land is full of peoples, and the city full of lawlessness.

 

24 And I will turn away the arrogance of their strength, and their holy things shall be defiled.

 

25 Atonement shall come, and one shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

 

26 Woe upon woe shall there be, and tidings upon tidings shall there be; and a vision shall be sought from a prophet, and law shall perish from a priest, and counsel from elders.

 

27 The ruler shall clothe himself with destruction, and the hands of the people of the land shall be paralyzed. According to their ways I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will take vengeance on them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 8

 

1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth day of the month, that I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and the hand of the Lord came upon me.

 

2 And I looked, and behold, a likeness of a man: from his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins upward, like the appearance of amber.

 

3 And he stretched out the likeness of a hand and took me by the crown of my head, and a spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven and brought me to Jerusalem in a vision of God, to the porch of the inner gate that looks toward the north, where the pillar of the possessor was.

 

4 And behold, there was the glory of the Lord God of Israel, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

 

5 And he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes toward the north. And I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, from the north, at the gate that faces east.

 

6 And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what these are doing? They commit great lawless deeds here, so as to keep away from my holy things; and you shall yet see greater lawless deeds.

 

7 And he brought me to the porch of the court,

 

8 and said to me, Son of man, dig. And I dug, and behold, a single door.

 

9 And he said to me, Go in and see the lawless deeds that these are doing here.

 

10 And I went in and looked, and behold, vain abominations and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon it round about,

 

11 and seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saphan stood in their midst before them, and each had his censer in his hand, and the vapor of the incense went up.

 

12 And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do, each of them in his hidden chamber? For they said, The Lord does not see; the Lord has forsaken the land.

 

13 And he said to me, You shall yet see greater lawless deeds which these are doing.

 

14 And he brought me to the porch of the gate of the house of the Lord that looks toward the north, and behold, there were women sitting, mourning for Thammuz.

 

15 And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen? And you shall yet see practices greater than these.

 

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and behold, at the porch of the temple of the Lord, between the porches and the altar, were about twenty men, their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces opposite, and these were worshipping the sun.

 

17 And he said to me, Have you seen, son of man? Is it a small thing for the house of Judah to commit the lawless deeds which they have committed here? For they have filled the land with lawlessness, and behold, they are as ones who sneer.

 

18 And I will deal with them in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have mercy.

 

Chapter 9

 

1 And he cried out in my ears with a loud voice, saying, "The vengeance of the city has drawn near"; and each one had the instruments of destruction in his hand.

 

2 And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate that faces north, and each had an axe in his hand; and one man in the midst of them was clothed in a long robe, and a girdle of sapphire was upon his loins; and they entered and stood beside the bronze altar.

 

3 And the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherubim, upon which it was, to the open court of the house. And he called the man clothed in the long robe, who had the girdle upon his loins,

 

4 and said to him, "Go through the midst of Jerusalem and put the mark on the foreheads of the men who groan and are grieved over all the lawless deeds that are done in the midst of it."

 

5 And to these he said in my hearing, "Go after him into the city and strike, and let not your eyes spare, and have no mercy;

 

6 kill old man and young man and maiden and infants and women, unto utter destruction; but come not near any upon whom is the mark; and begin from my holy ones." And they began with the elder men who were inside in the house.

 

7 And he said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the ways with the dead as you go out, and strike."

 

8 And it came to pass, as they were striking, that I fell upon my face and cried out and said, "Alas, O Lord, will you wipe out the remnant of Israel in pouring out your wrath upon Jerusalem?"

 

9 And he said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah has grown exceedingly, exceedingly great, for the land is filled with many peoples, and the city is filled with iniquity and uncleanness; for they said, 'The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.'

 

10 And my eye shall not spare, nor shall I have mercy; their ways I have recompensed upon their heads."

 

11 And behold, the man clothed in the long robe, and girded with the girdle about his loins, answered and said, "I have done as you commanded me."

 

Chapter 10

 

1 And I looked, and behold, above the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim there was, as it were, a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne upon them.

 

2 And he said to the man clothed in the robe, "Go in between the wheels that are beneath the cherubim, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he went in before me.

 

3 And the cherubim stood on the right side of the house as the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.

 

4 And the glory of the Lord departed from the cherubim to the open court of the house, and the cloud filled the house, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.

 

5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Shaddai speaking.

 

6 And it came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in the holy robe, saying, "Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim," that he went in and stood beside the wheels.

 

7 And he stretched forth his hand into the midst of the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some and gave it into the hands of the one clothed in the holy robe; and he took it and went out.

 

8 And I saw the cherubim: the likeness of men's hands beneath their wings.

 

9 And I looked, and behold, four wheels stood beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like the appearance of a carbuncle stone.

 

10 And their appearance was one likeness for the four, as when a wheel is in the midst of a wheel.

 

11 When they went, they went toward their four sides; they did not turn as they went, for to whatever place the first one looked, they went, and they did not turn as they went.

 

12 And their backs and their hands and their wings and the wheels were full of eyes round about, in their four wheels.

 

13 And these wheels were called Gelgel in my hearing.

 

15 And the cherubim rose up. This was the living creature that I saw at the river Chobar.

 

16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went, and these were beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth, their wheels did not turn.

 

17 When they stood, they stood; and when they rose up, they rose up with them, for the spirit of life was in them.

 

18 And the glory of the Lord went out from the house and mounted upon the cherubim,

 

19 and the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the earth before me when they went out, and the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the entrance of the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

 

20 This is the living creature that I saw beneath the God of Israel at the river Chobar, and I knew that they were cherubim.

 

21 Each one had four faces, and each one had eight wings, and the likeness of a man's hands was beneath their wings.

 

22 And as for the likeness of their faces, these were the faces that I saw beneath the glory of the God of Israel at the river Chobar; and they went, each one straight forward.

 

Chapter 11

 

1 And a spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces opposite, looking toward the east; and behold, at the entrance of the gate were about twenty-five men, and I saw in their midst Jezoniah the son of Ezer and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the leaders of the people.

 

2 And the Lord said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise vain things and take evil counsel in this city,

 

3 who say, 'Have not the houses been built recently? This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.'

 

4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man."

 

5 And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me and said to me, "Say: Thus says the Lord: Thus you have spoken, O house of Israel, and I know the deliberations of your spirit.

 

6 You have multiplied your dead in this city and have filled its streets with the slain.

 

7 Therefore thus says the Lord: Your dead whom you have struck down in the midst of it, these are the meat, and it is the cauldron, and I will bring you out from the midst of it.

 

8 You fear the sword, and a sword I will bring upon you, says the Lord.

 

9 And I will bring you out from the midst of it and will deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments upon you.

 

10 By the sword you shall fall; at the borders of Israel I will judge you; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

11 It shall not be a cauldron for you, nor shall you be as meat in the midst of it; at the borders of Israel I will judge you,

 

12 and you shall know that I am the Lord."

 

13 And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died, and I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, "Alas, alas, O Lord! Are you making a complete end of the remnant of Israel?"

 

14 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

15 "Son of man, your brothers and the men of your captivity and all the house of Israel have come to an end—those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, 'Keep far from the Lord; the land has been given to us as an inheritance.'

 

16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: I will thrust them away among the nations and will scatter them into every land, and I will be to them a small sanctuary in the countries where they shall enter.

 

17 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: I will also receive them from the nations and gather them from the countries where I have scattered them among them, and I will give them the land of Israel.

 

18 And they shall enter there and shall remove all its abominations and all its lawlessness from it.

 

19 And I will give them another heart, and a new spirit I will put within them; and I will pluck the heart of stone from their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh,

 

20 so that they may walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

 

21 But as for the heart set on their abominations and their lawless deeds, as their heart went, I have given their ways upon their heads, says the Lord."

 

22 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them, above them.

 

23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain that was opposite the city.

 

24 And a spirit lifted me up and brought me into the land of the Chaldeans, to the captivity, in a vision, by the spirit of God; and I went up from the vision that I had seen,

 

25 and I spoke to the captivity all the words of the Lord that he had shown me.

 

Chapter 12

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, you dwell in the midst of their iniquities—those who have eyes to see and do not see, and have ears to hear and do not hear, for it is a rebellious house.

 

3 And you, son of man, make for yourself baggage of captivity by day before them, and you shall be led captive from your place to another place before them, so that they may see, for it is a rebellious house.

 

4 And you shall carry out your baggage as baggage of captivity by day before their eyes, and you shall go out in the evening as a captive goes out.

 

5 Before them dig through the wall for yourself, and you shall go out through it.

 

6 Before them you shall be lifted upon shoulders and go out hidden; you shall cover your face and shall not see the land, for I have made you a portent to the house of Israel.

 

7 And I did so, according to all that he commanded me: I carried out baggage as baggage of captivity by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall for myself, and I went out hidden; I was lifted upon shoulders before them.

 

8 And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying:

 

9 Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, What are you doing?

 

10 Say to them: Thus says the Lord, the Lord: the prince and the leader in Jerusalem, and to all the house of Israel who are in their midst

 

11 say: I am working portents in her midst; as I have done, so shall it be for them; they shall go into exile and into captivity.

 

12 And the prince in their midst shall be carried upon shoulders and shall go out hidden through the wall, and he shall dig through so that he may go out through it; he shall cover his face, so that he may not be seen by any eye, and he himself shall not see the land.

 

13 And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; and he shall not see it, and there he shall die.

 

14 And all those around him, his helpers, and all who support him, I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them.

 

15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations; and I will disperse them among the lands.

 

16 And I will leave of them men few in number, spared from the sword and from famine and from death, so that they may recount all their lawless deeds among the nations where they have gone; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

18 Son of man, you shall eat your bread with anguish, and you shall drink your water with torment and affliction.

 

19 And you shall say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord to those dwelling in Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with want, and they shall drink their water with desolation, so that the land with its fullness may be laid waste, for all who dwell in it are in ungodliness.

 

20 And their inhabited cities shall be made utterly desolate, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

22 Son of man, what is this proverb of yours in the land of Israel, saying, The days are far off; the vision has perished?

 

23 Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord: I will turn back this proverb, and the house of Israel shall no longer say this proverb; for you shall speak to them: The days have drawn near, and the word of every vision.

 

24 For there shall no longer be any false vision, nor anyone divining flattering things in the midst of the sons of Israel;

 

25 for I, the Lord, will speak my words; I will speak and do, and I will no longer delay; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a word and do it, says the Lord.

 

26 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

27 Son of man, behold, the house of Israel, the rebellious one, keeps saying: The vision that this man sees is for many days, and he prophesies for distant times.

 

28 Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord: All my words that I shall speak shall no longer be delayed; I will speak and do, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 13

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, and you shall prophesy and say to them: Hear the word of the Lord.

 

3 Thus says the Lord: Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart and who see nothing at all.

 

4 Your prophets, Israel, are like foxes in the deserts;

 

5 they have not stood firm, and they gathered flocks against the house of Israel; those who say "In the day of the Lord" did not stand up;

 

 

6 seeing false things, divining vain things, those who say "The Lord says," when the Lord has not sent them, and they began to raise up a word.

 

7 Have you not seen a false vision and spoken vain divinations?

 

8 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: Because your words are false and your divinations vain, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord,

 

9 and I will stretch out my hand against the prophets who see false things and who utter vain things; they shall not be in the instruction of my people, nor shall they be written in the register of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

10 Because they led my people astray, saying "Peace, peace," and there was no peace, and this one builds a wall, and they themselves plaster it — will it fall?

 

11 Say to those who plaster: It will fall, and there will be a flooding rain, and I will send hailstones into their joints, and they shall fall, and a wind lifting up, and it shall be broken.

 

12 And behold, the wall has fallen, and will they not say to you: Where is your plaster with which you plastered?

 

13 Therefore thus says the Lord: I will break forth a blast lifting up with wrath, and there shall be a flooding rain in my anger, and the hailstones I will bring in wrath unto complete destruction,

 

14 and I will tear down the wall which you plastered, and it shall fall; and I will lay it upon the ground, and its foundations shall be uncovered, and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed with rebukes; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

15 And I will accomplish my wrath upon the wall and upon those who plaster it, and it shall fall. And I said to you: The wall is no more, nor those who plaster it

 

16 the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and who see peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord.

 

17 And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy from their own heart, and prophesy against them,

 

18 and you shall say: Thus says the Lord: Woe to the women who sew pillows for every elbow of the arm and make coverings for every head of every stature, to pervert souls; the souls of my people have been perverted, and they were preserving souls for themselves.

 

19 And they profaned me before my people for a handful of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill souls that should not die and to preserve alive souls that should not live, while you utter vain utterances to a people who listen.

 

20 Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am against your pillows, on which you there entangle souls, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will send away the souls, the souls of those whom you pervert, to scattering;

 

21 and I will tear your coverings and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be in your hands to be entangled; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

22 Because you were perverting the heart of the righteous unjustly, when I was not perverting him, and strengthening the hands of the lawless, so that he might not turn at all from his wicked way and live,

 

23 therefore you shall not see false things, and you shall no longer practice divinations, and I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 14

 

1 And there came to me men from the elders of Israel and sat before my face.

 

2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

3 Son of man, these men have set their thoughts upon their hearts and have placed the punishment of their iniquities before their faces; shall I indeed answer them?

 

4 Therefore speak to them and say to them: Thus says the Lord: Any man of the house of Israel who sets his thoughts upon his heart and places the punishment of his iniquity before his face and comes to the prophet — I the Lord will answer him according to the things in which his mind is entangled,

 

5 so that I may turn aside the house of Israel according to their hearts, which have been estranged from me in their devices.

 

6 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Turn back and turn away from your practices and from all your impieties, and turn your faces back.

 

7 For any man of the house of Israel, or of the proselytes who sojourn in Israel, who is estranged from me and sets his devices upon his heart and places the punishment of his iniquity before his face and comes to the prophet to inquire of him concerning me, I the Lord will answer him in that in which he is entangled;

 

8 and I will set my face against that man and make him a desolation and a destruction, and I will remove him from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

9 And if the prophet is led astray and speaks, I the Lord have led that prophet astray, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

 

10 And they shall bear their iniquity: according to the wrongdoing of the one inquiring, so likewise shall the wrongdoing be for the prophet,

 

11 so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me, and that they may no longer be defiled in all their transgressions; and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, says the Lord.

 

12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

13 Son of man, if a land sins against me by committing a transgression, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it and remove from it man and beasts,

 

14 and if these three men should be in its midst, Noah and Daniel and Job, they by their righteousness shall be saved, says the Lord.

 

15 If also I bring evil beasts upon the land and take vengeance on it, and it becomes a destruction, and there is no one passing through because of the beasts,

 

16 and these three men should be in its midst, as I live, says the Lord — neither sons nor daughters shall be saved, but they alone shall be saved, and the land shall be given over to destruction.

 

17 Or if also I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I remove from it man and beast,

 

18 and these three men be in its midst — as I live, says the Lord — they shall by no means deliver sons or daughters; they alone shall be saved.

 

19 Or if also I send death upon that land and pour out my wrath upon it in blood, to destroy from it man and beast,

 

20 and Noah and Daniel and Job be in its midst — as I live, says the Lord — if sons or daughters are left, they by their righteousness shall deliver their own souls.

 

21 Thus says the Lord: But if I send even my four evil judgments, sword and famine and evil beasts and death, upon Jerusalem, to destroy from it man and beast,

 

22 then behold, there are left in it those of it who have been saved, who bring out of it sons and daughters: behold, they come forth to you, and you shall see their ways and their devices, and you shall be comforted concerning the evils that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all the evils that I have brought upon it,

 

23 and they shall comfort you, because you shall see their ways and their devices; and you shall know that not in vain have I done all that I did in it, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 15

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 And you, son of man, what would the wood of the vine be among all the woods of the branches that are among the trees of the forest?

 

3 Will they take wood from it to make anything for use? Will they take from it a peg to hang any vessel upon it?

 

4 Except that it is given to the fire for consumption, the fire consumes its yearly pruning from it, and it fails utterly; will it be useful for any work?

 

5 Not even while it is whole will it serve for work. How much less, if the fire should also consume it utterly, will it still be fit for work?

 

6 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for consumption, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

 

7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out of the fire, and fire shall devour them, and they shall know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them.

 

8 And I will give the land over to destruction, because they have fallen away in transgression, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 16

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, testify to Jerusalem her lawless deeds,

 

3 and you shall say, Thus says the Lord to Jerusalem: Your root and your origin are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.

 

4 And as for your birth: on the day you were born, they did not bind your breasts, and you were not washed in water, nor were you salted with salt, nor swaddled in swaddling clothes,

 

5 nor did my eye spare you to do for you any one of all these things, so as to feel anything for you; and you were cast out upon the face of the plain because of the crookedness of your soul on the day you were born.

 

6 And I passed by you and saw you defiled in your blood, and I said to you, From your blood is life;

 

7 increase; like the springing up of the field I have made you. And you increased and grew great and entered into cities of cities; your breasts stood erect, and your hair sprang up, but you were naked and unseemly.

 

8 And I passed through you and saw you, and behold, your time was the time of those who lodge, and I spread my wings over you and covered your shame; and I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord, and you became mine.

 

9 And I washed you in water and rinsed your blood from you and anointed you with oil,

 

10 and I clothed you with embroidered garments and shod you with blue leather and girded you with fine linen and wrapped you in silk,

 

11 and I adorned you with ornament and put bracelets around your hands and a chain around your neck,

 

12 and I gave a ring for your nostril and little rings for your ears and a crown of boasting upon your head;

 

13 and you were adorned with gold and silver, and your garments were of fine linen and silk and embroidered work; you ate fine flour and oil and honey, and you became exceedingly beautiful.

 

14 And your name went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfected in comeliness, in the loveliness that I set upon you, says the Lord.

 

15 And you trusted in your beauty and played the whore upon your name, and you poured out your fornication upon every passerby — something that shall not be.

 

16 And you took some of your garments and made for yourself stitched idols and played the whore with them; and you shall not enter, nor shall it happen.

 

17 And you took the vessels of your boasting, of my gold and of my silver, of what I gave you, and made for yourself male images and played the whore with them;

 

18 and you took your embroidered clothing and covered them, and you set my oil and my incense before their faces;

 

19 and my bread which I gave you, I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey and you set them before their faces for a sweet-smelling savor; and so it happened, says the Lord.

 

20 And you took your sons and your daughters whom you bore, and you sacrificed them to them for consumption, as though your whoredom were a small matter,

 

21 and you slaughtered your children and gave them up when you made offerings to them for their sake.

 

22 This is beyond all your fornication; and you did not remember the days of your infancy, when you were naked and unseemly and lived defiled in your blood.

 

23 And it came to pass, after all your wickedness, says the Lord,

 

24 that you built yourself a whorehouse and made yourself an exhibition in every street,

 

25 and at the head of every road you built your brothels and ruined your beauty and spread your legs to every passerby and multiplied your fornication;

 

26 and you played the whore with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors, great of flesh, and in many ways you played the whore to provoke me to anger.

 

27 But if I stretch out my hand against you, I will remove your ordinances and hand you over to the souls of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines who turn you aside from your way in which you acted impiously.

 

28 And you played the whore with the daughters of Assyria, and not even so were you satisfied; you played the whore and were not satisfied.

 

29 And you multiplied your covenants with the land of the Chaldeans, and not even in these were you satisfied.

 

30 What shall I do with your daughter, says the Lord, in your doing all these things, the works of a harlot woman? And you played the whore threefold

 

31 among your daughters: you built your brothel at the head of every road, and you made your platform in every street, and you became like a harlot gathering hire.

 

32 The adulterous wife is like you, taking wages from her husband;

 

33 to all who played the whore with her she gave wages besides; and you have given wages to all your lovers, and you burdened them to come to you from all around in your fornication.

 

34 And in you there was something perverse beyond other women in your fornication: they have fornicated with you while you gave wages in addition, and wages were not given to you and so there were perverse things in you.

 

35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.

 

36 Thus says the Lord: Because you poured out your brass, your shame shall be uncovered in your fornication toward your lovers, and for all the devisings of your lawless deeds and for the blood of your children which you gave to them.

 

37 Therefore, behold, I am gathering against you all your lovers, with whom you mingled, and all whom you loved, together with all whom you hated; and I will gather them against you from all around, and I will uncover your wickedness before them, and they shall see all your shame;

 

38 and I will punish you with the punishment of an adulteress and of one who sheds blood, and I will set you in blood of wrath and jealousy.

 

39 And I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall demolish your brothel and pull down your platform and strip you of your clothing and take the vessels of your boasting, and they shall leave you naked and unseemly.

 

40 And they shall bring crowds against you and stone you with stones and slaughter you with their swords.

 

41 And they shall burn your houses with fire and execute judgments upon you before many women; and I will turn you back from your fornication, and you shall no longer give wages.

 

42 And I will let loose my wrath upon you, and my jealousy shall be removed from you, and I will rest and be anxious no more.

 

43 Because you did not remember the day of your infancy and grieved me in all these things, behold, I for my part have brought your ways upon your head, says the Lord; and thus you committed impiety on top of all your lawless deeds.

 

44 These are all the things they said against you in a proverb, saying, Like mother, like daughter.

 

45 You are the daughter of your mother, she who cast off her husband and her children, and the sister of your sisters who cast off their husbands and their children; your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

 

46 Your elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, who dwells on your left; and your sister younger than you, who dwells on your right, is Sodom and her daughters.

 

47 And yet not even in their ways did you walk, nor did you act according to their lawless deeds; within a little, you even surpassed them in all your ways.

 

48 As I live, says the Lord, Sodom your sister has not done, she and her daughters, as you and your daughters have done.

 

49 Moreover, this was the lawlessness of Sodom your sister: pride; in abundance of bread and in plenty of wine she and her daughters lived in luxury. This she and her daughters had, and they did not take hold of the hand of the poor and needy.

 

50 And they boasted greatly and committed lawless deeds before me, and I removed them, as I saw fit.

 

51 And Samaria did not sin even half of your sins; and you multiplied your lawless acts beyond them, and justified your sisters by all your lawless deeds which you committed.

 

52 You also bear your torment, in that you corrupted your sisters by your sins, in which you acted more lawlessly than they, and justified them above yourself. Be ashamed, then, and bear your dishonor, in that you justified your sisters.

 

53 And I will turn back their fortunes, the fortune of Sodom and her daughters, and I will turn back the fortune of Samaria and her daughters, and I will turn back your fortune in the midst of them,

 

54 so that you may bear your torment and be dishonored for all that you did in provoking me to anger.

 

55 And your sister Sodom and her daughters shall be restored as they were from the beginning, and Samaria and her daughters shall be restored as they were from the beginning, and you and your daughters shall be restored as you were from the beginning.

 

56 And was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth in the days of your pride,

 

57 before your wickedness was uncovered, just as you are now a reproach of the daughters of Syria and of all those around her, of the daughters of the foreigners who surround you on every side?

 

58 Your impieties and your lawless deeds, you have borne them, says the Lord.

 

59 Thus says the Lord: I will do to you as you have done, as you dishonored these things by transgressing my covenant.

 

60 And I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your infancy, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.

 

61 And you shall remember your way and be utterly dishonored when you receive your sisters, your elder ones together with your younger ones, and I will give them to you for a building up, but not by your covenant.

 

62 And I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord,

 

63 so that you may remember and be ashamed, and it may no longer be possible for you to open your mouth because of your dishonor, when I make atonement for you for all that you have done, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 17

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, relate a tale and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

 

3 and you shall say: Thus says the Lord: The great eagle, great-winged, long in its span, full of talons, which has the intent to enter Lebanon—and he took the choicest parts of the cedar;

 

4 he plucked off the tips of the tender shoots and brought them to the land of Canaan; he set them in a walled city.

 

5 And he took of the seed of the land and gave it into the plain, a plant by abundant water; he set it in a conspicuous place.

 

6 And it sprouted and became a vine, weak and small in size, so as to be visible; its branches were upon it and its roots were beneath it. And it became a vine and made shoots and stretched forth its tendrils.

 

7 And there was another great eagle, great-winged, with many talons, and behold, this vine was entwined toward him, and its roots were toward him, and it sent out its branches to him, that he might water it along with the clod of its planting.

 

8 In a fine plain, by abundant water, it is nourished so as to produce shoots and bear fruit, so as to become a great vine.

 

9 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: Shall it prosper? Will not the roots of its tender growth and its fruit rot, and all its early sprouts be withered? And not by a great arm nor by many people will it be pulled up from its roots.

 

10 And behold, it is nourished; shall it prosper? Will it not, as soon as the scorching wind touches it, be dried up with dryness? Along with the clod of its sprouting it shall be dried up.

 

11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

12 Son of man, say now to the provoking house: Do you not understand what these things were? Say: When the king of Babylon comes against Jerusalem, he will take her king and her rulers and will bring them to himself to Babylon.

 

13 And he will take of the seed of the kingdom and will make a covenant with him and bring him under an oath; and he will take the leaders of the land,

 

14 so that it may become a weak kingdom, unable to lift itself up at all, so as to keep his covenant and uphold it.

 

15 And he will revolt from him, sending his own messengers to Egypt, so that it might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he who does contrary things be delivered? And he who transgresses a covenant, shall he be saved?

 

16 As I live, says the Lord, surely in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he dishonored and whose covenant he transgressed, with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

 

17 And not with a great force nor with a large crowd will Pharaoh make war for him, with the casting up of siege mounds and the building of engine emplacements, to destroy lives.

 

18 And he dishonored the sworn oath by transgressing the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand, and yet he did all these things to him; shall he be saved?

 

19 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: As I live, surely my covenant which he transgressed and my sworn oath which he dishonored—I will bring them upon his head.

 

20 And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in its enclosure.

 

21 In all his array they shall fall by the sword, and I will scatter the survivors to every wind; and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken.

 

22 For thus says the Lord: And I myself will take from the choicest parts of the cedar; from the top of their heart I will pluck off, and I myself will plant it upon a high mountain; and I will hang it

 

23 on a lofty mountain of Israel, and I will plant it, and it will put forth a shoot and produce fruit and become a great cedar; and every beast will rest beneath it, and every bird will rest under its shade; its branches will be restored.

 

24 And all the trees of the plain shall know that I am the Lord, who humbles the high tree and exalts the humble tree, and who dries up the green tree and makes the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.

 

Chapter 18

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, what is this parable of yours among the sons of Israel, saying, "The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge"?

 

3 As I live, says the Lord, this parable shall no longer be spoken in Israel;

 

4 for all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son, they are mine; the soul that sins, it shall die.

 

5 But the man who shall be righteous, who does judgment and righteousness,

 

6 who does not eat upon the mountains and does not lift up his eyes to the devices of the house of Israel, and does not defile his neighbor's wife, and does not approach a woman in her impurity,

 

7 and does not oppress any man, returns the pledge of the debtor, and commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked,

 

8 and does not lend his money at interest and takes no increase, and turns his hand away from injustice, executes just judgment between a man and his neighbor,

 

9 and has walked in my ordinances and kept my statutes to do them, he is righteous; he shall surely live, says the Lord.

 

10 But if he begets a pestilent son who sheds blood and commits sins,

 

11 who did not walk in the way of his righteous father, but has even eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,

 

12 and oppressed the poor and needy, and committed robbery, and did not return the pledge, and set his eyes upon the idols, he has committed lawlessness;

 

13 he has lent at interest and taken increase, he shall not live; he has done all these lawless deeds; he shall surely be put to death; his blood shall be upon him.

 

14 But if he begets a son, and he sees all the sins of his father which he committed, and fears and does not do the like of them,

 

15 has not eaten upon the mountains, and has not set his eyes upon the devices of the house of Israel, and has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

 

16 and has not oppressed any man, and has not taken a pledge, and has committed no robbery, has given his bread to the hungry and clothed the naked,

 

17 and has turned his hand away from injustice, has taken neither interest nor increase, has done righteousness and walked in my ordinances, he shall not die in the iniquities of his father; he shall surely live.

 

18 But his father, if he grievously oppresses and commits robbery, has done contrary deeds in the midst of my people, and he shall die in his iniquity.

 

19 And you will say, Why has the son not borne the iniquity of his father? Because the son has done righteousness and mercy, has kept all my statutes and done them; he shall surely live.

 

20 But the soul that sins shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of his father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of his son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the lawlessness of the lawless shall be upon him.

 

21 And if the lawless man turns away from all his lawless deeds which he has done, and keeps all my commandments, and does righteousness and mercy, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

 

22 None of his transgressions which he committed shall be remembered; in his righteousness which he has done he shall live.

 

23 Do I at all desire the death of the lawless man, says the Lord, rather than that he turn from his evil way and live?

 

24 But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits injustice according to all the lawless deeds which the lawless man committed, none of his righteous deeds which he did shall be remembered; in his transgression by which he transgressed, and in his sins by which he sinned—in them he shall die.

 

25 And you have said, The way of the Lord is not right. Hear now, all the house of Israel: is my way not right? Is it not your way that is not right?

 

26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits a transgression and dies, in the transgression which he committed—in it he shall die.

 

27 And when the lawless man turns away from his lawlessness which he has done, and does judgment and righteousness, this man has preserved his soul,

 

28 and has turned away from all his impieties which he committed; he shall surely live; he shall not die.

 

29 And the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not right. Is my way not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your way that is not right?

 

30 I will judge each of you according to his way, O house of Israel, says the Lord. Turn and turn away from all your impieties, and they shall not become for you a punishment of iniquity.

 

31 Cast away from yourselves all your impieties by which you have acted impiously against me, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; and why do you die, O house of Israel?

 

32 For I do not desire the death of him who dies, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 19

 

1 And you, take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel,

 

2 and you shall say: What was your mother? A lion's cub; she was born in the midst of lions; in the midst of lions she multiplied her cubs.

 

3 And one of her cubs leapt forth; he became a lion and learned to seize prey; he devoured men.

 

4 And nations heard of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with a muzzle to the land of Egypt.

 

5 And she saw that he was driven away from her and her hope had perished, and she took another of her cubs; she appointed him a lion.

 

6 And he went about in the midst of lions; he became a lion and learned to seize prey; he devoured men;

 

7 and he fed in his boldness and laid waste their cities and destroyed the land and its fullness by the sound of his roaring.

 

8 And the nations set upon him from the regions round about, and they spread out their nets over him; he was caught in their pit;

 

9 and they put him in a muzzle and in a cage; he came to the king of Babylon, and he brought him into prison, so that his voice might not be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

 

10 Your mother was like a vine, like a blossom on a pomegranate, planted by water; her fruit and her shoot came from much water.

 

11 And she had a rod of strength over a tribe of rulers, and she was exalted in her greatness in the midst of stems, and she saw her greatness in the multitude of her branches.

 

12 And she was broken down in fury; she was cast upon the ground, and the scorching wind dried up her choice branches; her rod of strength was punished and withered; fire consumed it.

 

13 And now they have planted her in the wilderness, in a waterless land;

 

14 and fire went out from the rod of her choice branches and devoured her, and there was no rod of strength in her. The tribe is for a parable of lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.

 

Chapter 20

 

1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, that men from the elders of the house of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before my face.

 

2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Have you come to inquire of me? As I live, I will not answer you, says the Lord.

 

4 Shall I take vengeance upon them with vengeance? Son of man, testify to them of the lawless deeds of their fathers,

 

5 and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: From the day I chose the house of Israel and made myself known to the seed of the house of Jacob, and was known to them in the land of Egypt, and took hold of them with my hand, saying, I am the Lord your God

 

6 on that day I took hold of them with my hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land which I prepared for them, a land flowing with milk and honey; it is a honeycomb beyond every land.

 

7 And I said to them: Let each one cast away the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the practices of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

 

8 But they revolted from me and were not willing to listen to me; they did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, and they did not forsake the practices of Egypt. And I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

 

9 And I acted so that my name should not be profaned at all before the nations in whose midst they were, among whom I was made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

 

10 And I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness,

 

11 and I gave them my ordinances and made known to them my statutes, all that a man shall do and live by them.

 

12 And I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

 

13 And I said to the house of Israel in the wilderness: Walk in my ordinances. But they did not walk in them, and they rejected my statutes, which a man shall do and live by them, and they profaned my sabbaths exceedingly. And I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them utterly.

 

14 And I acted so that my name should not be profaned at all before the nations, before whose eyes I brought them out.

 

15 And I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness, that I would by no means bring them into the land which I gave them, a land flowing with milk and honey; it is a honeycomb beyond every land

 

16 because they rejected my statutes and did not walk in my ordinances, and they profaned my sabbaths and went after the imaginations of their hearts.

 

17 Yet my eye spared them from wiping them out, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

 

18 And I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not walk in the customs of your fathers, and do not keep their statutes, and do not mingle with their practices, and do not defile yourselves.

 

19 I am the Lord your God; walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and do them,

 

20 and sanctify my sabbaths, and let it be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.

 

21 But their children also embittered me; they did not walk in my ordinances, and they did not keep my statutes to do them, which a man shall do and live by them, and they profaned my sabbaths. And I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to accomplish my anger against them.

 

22 And I acted so that my name should not be profaned at all before the nations, before whose eyes I brought them out.

 

23 And I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them among the countries,

 

24 because they did not do my statutes and rejected my ordinances and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after the imaginations of their fathers.

 

25 And I gave them ordinances that were not good, and statutes by which they shall not live.

 

26 And I will defile them by their gifts, when I pass through everything that opens the womb, that I may destroy them.

 

27 Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: To this extent your fathers provoked me to anger by their transgressions, in which they transgressed against me.

 

28 And I brought them into the land over which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, and they saw every high hill and every shady tree, and they sacrificed there to their gods, and appointed there a fragrant odor, and poured out there their drink offerings.

 

29 And I said to them: What is Abama, that you go in there? And they called its name Abama to this day.

 

30 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord: Do you defile yourselves in the lawless deeds of your fathers, and do you go whoring after their abominations?

 

31 And in the firstfruits of your gifts, in your set-apart offerings, you defile yourselves in all your imaginations to this day. And shall I answer you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord, I will not answer you, nor shall this come upon your spirit.

 

32 And it shall not be as you say: We will be like the nations and like the tribes of the earth, serving wood and stone.

 

33 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured-out wrath I will be king over you.

 

34 And I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you in from the countries where you were scattered among them, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured-out wrath.

 

35 And I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

 

36 As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you, says the Lord.

 

37 And I will make you pass under my rod, and I will bring you in by number,

 

38 and I will select out from you the ungodly and the rebellious, for I will bring them out of their place of sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

39 And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord, the Lord: Let each remove his practices; and after this, if you do not listen to me, yet you shall no longer profane my holy name by your gifts and by your practices.

 

40 For upon my holy mountain, upon a high mountain, says the Lord, the Lord, there shall all the house of Israel serve me to the end; and there I will accept, and there I will look upon your firstfruits and the firstfruits of your set-apart offerings, in all your holy things.

 

41 With a fragrant odor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you in from the countries in which you were scattered among them, and I will be sanctified among you before the eyes of the peoples.

 

42 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land over which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.

 

43 And there you shall remember your ways and your practices, by which you defiled yourselves, and you shall beat your faces for all your wickednesses.

 

44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you thus, so that my name may not be profaned according to your evil ways and according to your corrupt practices, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 21

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, set your face toward Thaiman, and look toward Darom, and prophesy against the forest that leads Nageb,

 

3 and you shall say to the forest of Nageb: Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am kindling a fire in you, and it shall devour in you every green tree and every dry tree; the flame that has been kindled shall not be quenched, and every face shall be burned in it, from the east wind to the north.

 

4 And all flesh shall know that I the Lord have kindled it, and it shall not be quenched.

 

5 And I said: By no means, Lord, Lord! They say to me: Is not this a parable that is being spoken?

 

6 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

7 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and set your face against Jerusalem, and look upon their holy places, and you shall prophesy against the land of Israel,

 

8 and you shall say to the land of Israel: Behold, I am against you, and I will draw my dagger from its sheath, and I will destroy from you the unrighteous and the lawless.

 

9 Because I will destroy from you the unrighteous and the lawless, so shall my dagger go forth from its sheath against all flesh from the east wind to the north;

 

10 and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn my dagger from its sheath, and it shall not return any more.

 

11 And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins, and in pains you shall groan before their eyes.

 

12 And it shall be, if they say to you, Why do you groan? then you shall say: Because of the report, for it is coming, and every heart shall be shattered, and all hands shall be paralyzed, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture. Behold, it is coming, and it shall be, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

13 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

14 Son of man, prophesy and you shall say: Thus says the Lord: Say: Sword, sword, be sharpened and be enraged,

 

15 that you may slay victims; be sharpened that you may be polished, ready for dissolution; slay, set at naught, thrust aside every tree.

 

16 And he gave it ready for his hand to grasp; the sword has been whetted, it is ready to be given into the hand of one who pierces.

 

17 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it has come upon my people, it upon all the leaders of Israel; they shall dwell as sojourners by the sword; it has come upon my people. Therefore clap upon your hand,

 

18 for it has been justified. And what if even a tribe has been rejected? It shall not be, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

19 And you, son of man, prophesy and clap hand upon hand and double the sword; the third sword is a sword of the slain, the great sword of the slain, and it shall astound them,

 

20 that the heart may be shattered and those who are weak may be multiplied at every gate of theirs. They have been delivered up as victims of the sword; it has been made well for slaughter, made well for polishing.

 

21 Pass through, sharpen yourself on the right and on the left, wherever your face may be roused.

 

22 And I too will clap my hand against my hand and let loose my wrath; I the Lord have spoken.

 

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

24 And you, son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to enter; the two shall go out from one country, and a hand at the beginning of the way of the city; at the beginning

 

25 of the way you shall appoint for the sword to enter against Rabbath of the sons of Ammon and against Judea and against Jerusalem in its midst.

 

26 For the king of Babylon shall stand upon the ancient way, at the beginning of the two ways, to divine a divination, to shake up a rod and to inquire of the carved images and to inspect the liver at his right hand.

 

27 The divination fell upon Jerusalem: to cast a rampart, to open the mouth with shouting, to lift up the voice with a cry, to cast a rampart against her gates and to cast up a mound and to build emplacements for missiles.

 

28 And he was to them as one divining a divination before them, and he was one bringing to remembrance his iniquity, that it might be remembered.

 

29 Therefore thus says the Lord: Because you have brought your iniquities to remembrance, when your impieties were uncovered, so that your sins were seen in all your impieties and in your practices—because you have brought them to remembrance, in these you shall be taken.

 

30 And you, profane, lawless leader of Israel, whose day has come, in a time of iniquity an end,

 

31 thus says the Lord: You have taken off the turban and put on the crown; this shall not be such; you have humbled the lofty and exalted the lowly.

 

32 Iniquity, iniquity I will make it; nor shall this be such, until he comes to whom it belongs, and I will deliver it to him.

 

33 And you, son of man, prophesy and you shall say: Thus says the Lord to the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach; and you shall say: Sword, sword, drawn for slaughter and drawn for consummation, rise up that you may flash,

 

34 in your vain vision and in your divining lies, to deliver you upon the necks of the slain of the lawless, whose day has come, in a time of iniquity an end.

 

35 Turn back; do not lodge in this place where you were born; in your own land I will judge you,

 

36 and I will pour out my wrath upon you; with the fire of my wrath I will blow upon you, and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarian men who contrive destruction.

 

37 You shall be food for the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of your land; there shall be no memory of you at all, for I the Lord have spoken.

 

Chapter 22

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 And you, son of man, will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then set forth to her all her lawless deeds,

 

3 and you shall say: Thus says the Lord, the Lord: O city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes devices against herself to defile herself

 

4 by their blood which you have shed you have fallen, and by your devices which you were making you were defiled; and you have brought near your days and brought on the time of your years. Therefore I have given you as a reproach to the nations and as a mockery to all the lands,

 

5 to those near you and to those far off from you, and they shall mock at you: "Unclean is the notorious one, abounding in lawless deeds."

 

6 Behold, the leaders of the house of Israel, each one, joined with his kinsmen in you, that they might shed blood.

 

7 Father and mother they reviled in you, and toward the sojourner they behaved with wrongs in you; the orphan and the widow they oppressed in you.

 

8 And they despised my holy things and profaned my sabbaths in you.

 

9 There were men, robbers, in you, that they might shed blood in you; and on the mountains they ate in you; unholy things they did in your midst.

 

10 The father's shame they uncovered in you, and the woman set apart in her uncleanness they humbled in you.

 

11 Each acted lawlessly against his neighbor's wife, and each defiled his daughter-in-law in impiety, and each humbled his sister, his father's daughter, in you.

 

12 They took bribes in you, that they might shed blood; interest and increase they took in you; and you have brought your wickedness by oppression to its completion, but me you have forgotten, says the Lord.

 

13 But if I strike my hand against my hand at the things you have accomplished, which you did, and at your bloodshed that has occurred in your midst,

 

14 will your heart endure? Will your hands hold firm in the days when I act against you? I the Lord have spoken and will do it.

 

15 And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among the lands, and your uncleanness shall fail from you,

 

16 and I will take possession in you before the eyes of the nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

18 Son of man, behold, the house of Israel have become to me all mixed with bronze and iron and tin and lead; in the midst of silver it is mixed.

 

19 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord: Because you have all become one mixture, therefore I am gathering you into the midst of Jerusalem.

 

20 As silver and bronze and iron and tin and lead are gathered into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire upon it that it may be smelted, so will I gather you in my wrath, and I will collect and smelt you,

 

21 and I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be smelted in her midst.

 

22 As silver is smelted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be smelted in her midst; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.

 

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

24 Son of man, say to her: You are a land that is not rained upon, nor did rain come upon you in the day of wrath;

 

25 whose leaders in her midst are like roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by force, taking honors unjustly; and your widows have multiplied in your midst.

 

26 And her priests have set aside my law and were profaning my holy things; between holy and profane they made no distinction, and between the unclean and the clean they made no distinction, and from my sabbaths they veiled their eyes, and I was profaned in their midst.

 

27 Her rulers in her midst are like wolves seizing prey, to shed blood, that they may gain gain by greed.

 

28 And her prophets who anoint them shall fall, seeing vain things, divining lies, saying, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord has not spoken;

 

29 pressing the people of the land with injustice and plundering spoils, oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing with the sojourner with judgment.

 

30 And I sought among them a man conducting himself uprightly and standing wholly before my face in the time of the land, so as not to destroy her utterly, and I found none.

 

31 And I poured out upon her my fury in the fire of my wrath, to make an end; their ways I have given upon their heads, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

Chapter 23

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother,

 

3 and they played the whore in Egypt in their youth; there their breasts fell, there they lost their virginity.

 

4 And their names were Oola the elder and Ooliba her sister. And they became mine and bore sons and daughters. And as for their names: Samaria is Oola, and Jerusalem is Ooliba.

 

5 And Oola played the whore away from me and doted upon her lovers, upon the Assyrians who drew near to her,

 

6 clothed in blue, leaders and commanders; choice young men all, horsemen riding on horses.

 

7 And she bestowed her whoredom upon them, all of them choice sons of the Assyrians and upon all upon whom she doted; with all their devices she defiled herself.

 

8 And she did not forsake her whoredom from Egypt, for they lay with her in her youth, and they took her virginity and poured out their whoredom upon her.

 

9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

 

10 They uncovered her shame; they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her upon the daughters.

 

11 And her sister Ooliba saw, and she was more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredom more than the whoredom of her sister.

 

12 She doted upon the sons of the Assyrians, leaders and commanders near her, clothed in fine-bordered garments, horsemen riding on horses, choice young men all.

 

13 And I saw that they were defiled: one way of the two.

 

14 And she added to her whoredom, and she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of Chaldeans, portrayed with a pencil,

 

15 girded with embroidered work about their loins, and dyed turbans upon their heads, a threefold appearance of them all, the likeness of the sons of the Chaldeans, the land of their fathers,

 

16 and she doted upon them at the sight of her eyes and sent messengers to them into the land of the Chaldeans.

 

17 And the sons of Babylon came to her, into the bed of lodgers, and they defiled her in her whoredom, and she was defiled by them; and her soul turned away from them.

 

18 And she uncovered her whoredom and uncovered her shame, and my soul turned away from her, just as my soul turned away from her sister.

 

19 And you multiplied your whoredom, calling to mind the days of your youth, in which you played the whore in Egypt,

 

20 and you doted upon the Chaldeans, whose flesh was like that of asses, and whose members were the members of horses.

 

21 And you looked back upon the lawlessness of your youth, the things you did in Egypt in your lodging-place, where were the breasts of your youth.

 

22 Therefore, Ooliba, thus says the Lord: Behold, I stir up your lovers against you, from whom your soul turned away, and I will bring them against you round about

 

23 the sons of Babylon and all the Chaldeans, Phakoud and Soue and Koue, and all the sons of the Assyrians with them, choice young men, governors and commanders all, officers and renowned men, riding on horses.

 

24 And they shall all come against you from the north, chariots and wheels with a multitude of peoples, shields and bucklers, and they shall set a guard about you round about; and I will set judgment before them, and they shall punish you by their judgments.

 

25 And I will set my jealousy upon you, and they shall deal with you in the wrath of fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears, and your remnant they shall cast down with the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant fire shall devour.

 

26 And they shall strip you of your raiment and take the vessels of your glorying.

 

27 And I will turn back your impieties from you and your whoredom from the land of Egypt, and you shall not lift up your eyes to them, and you shall remember Egypt no more.

 

28 For thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, from whom your soul turned away;

 

29 and they shall deal with you in hatred, and they shall take all your labors and your toils, and you shall be naked and put to shame, and the shame of your whoredom shall be uncovered, and your impiety. And your whoredom

 

30 has done these things to you, in that you went whoring after the nations and were defiled with their devices.

 

31 You walked in the way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hands.

 

32 Thus says the Lord: You shall drink your sister's cup, the deep and the wide one, abundant to accomplish

 

33 drunkenness, and you shall be filled with faintness; and the cup of destruction, the cup of your sister Samaria

 

34 and you shall drink it; and her feasts and her new moons I will turn back; for I have spoken, says the Lord.

 

35 Therefore thus says the Lord: Because you forgot me and cast me behind your body, you also bear your impiety and your whoredom.

 

36 And the Lord said to me: Son of man, will you not judge Oola and Ooliba? And you shall declare to them their lawless deeds,

 

37 for they committed adultery, and blood was in their hands; with their devices they committed adultery, and their children, whom they bore to me, they made pass through the fire for them.

 

38 Moreover they did these things to me: they defiled my holy things and profaned my sabbaths.

 

39 And when they slaughtered their children to their idols, they also entered into my holy things to profane them; and thus they did in the midst of my house.

 

40 And moreover, for the men coming from afar, to whom they sent messengers and as soon as they came, straightway you washed yourself and painted your eyes with stibium and adorned yourself with ornaments,

 

41 and you sat upon a spread couch, and a table set in order before it. And with my incense and my oil they made merry.

 

42 And they raised a sound of harmony; and to men out of a multitude of mankind, coming from the wilderness, they gave bracelets upon their hands and a crown of glorying upon their heads.

 

43 And I said, Do they not commit adultery with these? And she too played the whore with the works of a harlot.

 

44 And they went in to her, as men go in to a harlot woman; so they went in to Oola and to Ooliba to do lawlessness.

 

45 And righteous men, they shall punish them with the punishment of an adulteress and with the punishment of blood, for they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

 

46 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Bring up a multitude against them and give them over to tumult and plunder,

 

47  and stone them with the stones of multitudes and stab them through with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.

 

48 And I will turn away impiety from the land, and all the women shall be instructed and shall not do according to their impieties.

 

49 And your impiety shall be laid upon you, and you shall bear the sins of your devices; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 24

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying,

 

2 Son of man, write down for yourself the day, from this day on which the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem, from this very day,

 

3 and speak a parable to the provoking house, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Set on the cauldron and pour water into it,

 

4 and put into it the pieces, every good piece, leg and shoulder stripped of flesh from the bones,

 

5 taken from choice cattle, and burn the bones beneath them; it has boiled and boiled, and its bones have been cooked in the midst of it.

 

6 Therefore thus says the Lord: O city of blood, a cauldron in which there is rust, and the rust has not gone out of it; it has brought it out piece by piece, no lot has fallen upon it.

 

7 For her blood is in the midst of her; I have set it upon a bare rock; I have not poured it out upon the ground so as to cover it with earth.

 

8 That wrath might rise up to take full vengeance, I have set her blood upon a bare rock, so as not to cover it.

 

9 Therefore thus says the Lord: I too will make the firebrand great,

 

10 and I will multiply the wood and kindle the fire, so that the flesh may melt and the broth be diminished,

 

11 and it may stand upon the coals, so that its bronze may be scorched and heated, and melt in the midst of its uncleanness, and its rust be consumed,

 

12 and its abundant rust shall not come out of it; its rust shall be put to shame,

 

13 because you defiled yourself. And what if you are not cleansed yet, until I have satisfied my wrath?

 

14 I the Lord have spoken, and it shall come, and I will do it; I will not hold back nor will I have mercy; according to your ways and according to your devices I will judge you, says the Lord. Therefore I will judge you according to your bloodshed, and according to your devices I will judge you, you unclean one, notorious and abundant in provocation.

 

15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

16 Son of man, behold, I am taking from you the desire of your eyes by assault; you shall not mourn nor weep.

 

17 It is a groaning of blood, of the loins, of mourning; your hair shall not be braided upon you, and your sandals shall be on your feet; you shall not be comforted by their lips, and you shall not eat the bread of men.

 

18 And I spoke to the people in the morning as he commanded me, and my wife died in the evening, and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

 

19 And the people said to me, Will you not tell us what these things mean, which you are doing?

 

20 And I said to them, The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

21 Say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am profaning my holy things, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your souls spare; and your sons and your daughters, whom you have left behind, shall fall by the sword.

 

22 And you shall do as I have done: you shall not be comforted from their mouth, and you shall not eat the bread of men,

 

23 and your hair shall be upon your heads, and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, and you shall waste away in your iniquities, and each shall comfort his brother.

 

24 And Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you shall do, when these things come; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

25 And you, son of man—will it not be that on the day when I take from them their strength, the exaltation of their boasting, the desires of their eyes and the exaltation of their soul, their sons and their daughters,

 

26 on that day the one who escapes will come to you to report it in your ears?

 

27 On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who escapes, and you shall speak and shall no longer be mute; and you shall be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 25

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them,

 

3 and you shall say to the sons of Ammon: Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Because you rejoiced over my holy things, that they were profaned, and over the land of Israel, that it was destroyed, and over the house of Judah, that they went into captivity,

 

4 therefore, behold, I am handing you over to the sons of Kedem for an inheritance, and they shall encamp with their equipment in you and shall set up their tents in you; they shall eat your fruits, and they shall drink your fatness.

 

5 And I will make the city of Ammon into pastures for camels and the sons of Ammon into a pasture for sheep; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

6 For thus says the Lord: Because you clapped your hand and stamped with your foot and rejoiced from your soul over the land of Israel,

 

7  therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you over to plunder among the nations, and I will utterly destroy you from among the peoples and destroy you from the lands with destruction; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

8 Thus says the Lord: Because Moab said, Behold, the house of Israel and Judah is like all the nations,

 

9 therefore, behold, I am weakening the shoulder of Moab, from its frontier cities, a choice land, the house of Asimouth above the spring of the city by the sea.

 

10 To the sons of Kedem, along with the sons of Ammon, I have given them for an inheritance, so that no remembrance of the sons of Ammon may remain;

 

11 and upon Moab I will execute vengeance, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

12 Thus says the Lord: Because Idumea acted in taking vengeance upon the house of Judah, and they bore a grudge and exacted retribution,

 

13 therefore thus says the Lord: I will also stretch out my hand against Idumea and utterly destroy from it man and beast, and I will make it a desolation, and those pursued from Thaiman shall fall by the sword;

 

14 and I will lay my vengeance upon Idumea by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall act in Idumea according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord.

 

15 Therefore thus says the Lord: Because the foreigners acted in vengeance and stirred up vengeance, rejoicing from the soul, to blot out forever,

 

16 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the foreigners and utterly destroy the Cretans, and I will destroy the remnant who dwell along the seacoast;

 

17 and I will execute great acts of vengeance among them, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.

 

Chapter 26

 

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, because Sor said against Jerusalem, "Aha! She is shattered, the nations are destroyed; she has turned to me; she that was full is laid waste,"

 

3 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Sor, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea rises with its waves.

 

4 And they shall cast down the walls of Sor and cast down your towers, and I will scatter her dust from her and make her a bare rock.

 

5 She shall be a drying-place for nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, says the Lord; and she shall become plunder for the nations,

 

6 and her daughters that are in the plain shall be slain with the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

7 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I am bringing against you, Sor, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon from the north (he is a king of kings), with horses and chariots and horsemen and a gathering of very many nations.

 

8 He shall slay your daughters in the plain with the sword, and he shall set a guard against you, and build around you, and make a palisade around you and a ring of arms, and he shall set his spears against you.

 

9 He shall cast down your walls and your towers with his swords.

 

10 Because of the multitude of his horses their dust shall cover you, and at the sound of his horsemen and of the wheels of his chariots your walls shall be shaken when he enters your gates, as one entering a city from the plain.

 

11 With the hooves of his horses they shall trample all your streets; he shall slay your people with the sword and bring down to the ground the foundation of your strength.

 

12  And he shall plunder your power and spoil your possessions and cast down your walls, and he shall tear down your desirable houses, and your stones and your timbers and your dust he shall cast into the midst of the sea.

 

13 And he shall put an end to the multitude of your musicians, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more.

 

14 And I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a drying-place for nets; you shall never be built again, for I have spoken, says the Lord.

 

15 For thus says the Lord, the Lord, to Sor: Shall not the islands be shaken at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the sword is drawn in the midst of you?

 

16 And all the rulers from the nations of the sea shall come down from their thrones and remove the turbans from their heads and strip off their embroidered garments; they shall be utterly astonished; they shall sit upon the ground and fear their own destruction and groan over you.

 

17 And they shall take up a lamentation over you and say to you: How have you been destroyed from the sea, the renowned city, she who put her fear upon all who dwelt in her?

 

18 And the islands shall be afraid from the day of your fall.

 

19 For thus says the Lord, the Lord: When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that shall not be inhabited, when I bring up the deep against you and much water covers you,

 

20 then I will bring you down with those who go down into the pit, to the people of old, and I will settle you in the depths of the earth, as an everlasting desolation, with those who go down into the pit, so that you may not be inhabited nor stand upon the land of the living.

 

21 I will give you over to destruction, and you shall exist no more forever, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

Chapter 27

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Sor,

 

3 and you shall say to Sor, who dwells at the entrance of the sea, the marketplace of the peoples from many islands: Thus says the Lord to Sor: You said, I have put my beauty upon myself.

 

4 In the heart of the sea, to Beelim, your sons put beauty upon you.

 

5 Cedar from Sanir was built for you; strips of cypress planks were taken from Lebanon to make you masts of fir.

 

6 From Basanitis they made your oars; your holy places they made of ivory, houses of woodland from the islands of the Chettiin.

 

7 Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt became your bedding, to put glory upon you and to clothe you with blue and purple from the islands of Elisai, and it became your coverings.

 

8 And your rulers who dwell in Sidon, and the Aradians, became your rowers; your wise men, O Sor, who were in you, these were your pilots.

 

9 The elders of the Byblians and their wise men were in you; these strengthened your counsel; and all the ships of the sea and their rowers came to you at the utmost west.

 

10 Persians and Lydians and Libyans were in your army; your men of war hung shields and helmets in you; these gave you your glory.

 

11 The sons of the Aradians and your army were upon your walls; guards were in your towers; they hung their quivers upon your harbors round about; these perfected your beauty.

 

12 The Carthaginians were your merchants because of the abundance of all your strength; silver and gold and iron and tin and lead they gave for your market.

 

13 Greece, both the whole of it and the adjacent lands—these traded with you in the souls of men, and they gave bronze vessels for your merchandise.

 

14 From the house of Thergama they gave horses and horsemen for your market.

 

15 The sons of the Rhodians were your merchants; from the islands they multiplied your merchandise, ivory tusks, and to those who were brought in you gave your wages in return,

 

16 men as your merchandise, from the abundance of your mixed company; oil of myrrh and embroideries from Tharsis, and Ramoth and Chorchor gave your market.

 

17 Judas and the sons of Israel—these were your merchants in the sale of grain and of perfumes and of cassia; and they gave first honey and oil and resin to your mixed company.

 

18 Damascus was your merchant because of the abundance of all your power: wine from Chelbon and wool from Miletus;

 

19 and they gave wine for your market. From Asel wrought iron, and a wheel is among your mixed company.

 

20 Daidan were your merchants with choice cattle for chariots.

 

21 Arabia and all the rulers of Kedar, these were your merchants by your hand, with camels and rams and lambs, in which they trade with you.

 

22 The merchants of Saba and Ragma, these were your merchants with the finest spices and precious stones, and gold they gave for your market.

 

23 Charran and Channa—these were your merchants. Assour and Charman were your merchants,

 

24 bringing as merchandise blue cloth and choice treasures bound with cords, and things of cypress.

 

25 Ships,in them the Carthaginians were your merchants in the multitude, among your mixed company; and you were filled and made exceedingly heavy in the heart of the sea.

 

26 In many waters your rowers brought you; the south wind broke you in the heart of the sea.

 

27 Your forces were there, and your wages, and those of your mixed company, and your rowers and your pilots and your counselors, and your mixed people from among your mixed company, and all your men of war who were in you, and all your assembly in your midst, they shall fall in the heart of the sea on the day of your fall.

 

28 At the sound of your cry your pilots shall be greatly afraid,

 

29 and all your rowers shall come down from the ships, and the passengers and the prow-men of the sea shall stand upon the land,

 

30 and they shall wail over you with their voice and cry out bitterly, and they shall put earth upon their heads and spread ashes beneath themselves.

 

32 And their sons shall take up a lamentation over you, and a dirge for you: How great a wage did you find from the sea? You filled the nations from your abundance, and from your mixed company you enriched all the kings of the earth.

 

34 Now you are broken in the sea, in the depth of the water; your mixed company and all your assembly in your midst have fallen, all your rowers.

 

35 All who dwell in the islands were grieved over you, and their kings were utterly amazed, and their faces wept.

 

36 Merchants from the nations hissed at you; you have become a destruction, and you shall be no more forever.

 

Chapter 28

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 And you, son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre: Thus says the Lord: Because your heart was lifted up, and you said, "I am a god; I have dwelt in a dwelling of a god in the heart of the sea", yet you are a man and not a god, and you have set your heart as the heart of a god

 

3 are you wiser than Daniel? Did not wise men instruct you with their knowledge?

 

4 Did you not by your knowledge or by your prudence acquire power for yourself, and gold and silver in your treasuries?

 

5 By your great knowledge and your commerce you multiplied your power; your heart was lifted up in your power.

 

6 Therefore thus says the Lord: Since you have set your heart as the heart of a god,

 

7 for this reason, behold, I am bringing against you foreign plagues from the nations, and they shall unsheathe their swords against you and against the beauty of your knowledge, and they shall lay low your beauty unto destruction,

 

8 and they shall bring you down, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the sea.

 

9 Will you indeed say, "I am a god," before those who are slaying you? Yet you are a man and not a god.

 

10 Among a multitude of the uncircumcised you shall perish by the hands of foreigners; for I have spoken, says the Lord.

 

11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation over the ruler of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord, the Lord: You were a seal of likeness and a crown of beauty;

 

13 in the delight of the paradise of God you came to be; you were adorned with every precious stone, sardius and topaz and emerald and carbuncle and sapphire and jasper and silver and gold and jacinth and agate and amethyst and chrysolite and beryl and onyx and with gold you filled your treasuries and your storehouses within you from the day you were created.

 

14 With the cherub I placed you on the holy mountain of God; you were in the midst of stones of fire.

 

15 You were blameless in your days from the day you were created, until iniquities were found in you.

 

16 From the abundance of your commerce you filled your storerooms with lawlessness, and you sinned, and you were wounded and cast from the mountain of God, and the cherub led you out from the midst of the stones of fire.

 

17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; your knowledge was corrupted along with your beauty. Because of the multitude of your sins I have cast you to the earth; before kings I gave you to be made an example.

 

18 Because of the multitude of your sins and the injustices of your commerce, you have profaned your holy places; and I will bring forth fire from your midst, it shall devour you; and I will make you ashes upon your land before all who behold you.

 

19 And all who know you among the nations shall be appalled at you; you have become a destruction, and you shall exist no more forever.

 

20 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

21 Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her,

 

22 and say: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Sidon, and I will be glorified in you; and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I execute judgments in you, and I will be sanctified in you.

 

23 Blood and death shall be in your streets, and the wounded shall fall by swords in you, all around you; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

24 And there shall no longer be for the house of Israel a stake of bitterness or a thorn of pain from all those around them who have dishonored them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

25 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: And I will gather Israel from the nations where they were scattered, and I will be sanctified among them before the peoples and the nations; and they shall dwell in their land, which I have given to my servant Jacob,

 

26 and they shall dwell upon it in hope, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards and dwell in hope, when I execute judgment on all those who dishonored them among those around them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God and the God of their fathers.

 

Chapter 29

 

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt,

 

3 and say: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against Pharaoh, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, who says, "The rivers are mine, and I made them."

 

4 And I will put hooks into your jaws, and I will make the fish of your river stick to your fins, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your river, and all the fish of your river;

 

5 and I will cast you down swiftly, and all the fish of your river. You shall fall upon the face of the open field, and you shall not be gathered nor wrapped for burial; to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky I have given you for food.

 

6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because you were a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

 

7 When they took hold of you with their hand, you were crushed; and when every hand prevailed against them, and when they leaned upon you, you were broken and you shattered every loin of theirs.

 

8 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am bringing a sword upon you, and I will destroy men and cattle from you;

 

9 and the land of Egypt shall be a ruin and a desolation, and they shall know that I am the Lord, because you said, "The rivers are mine, and I made them."

 

10 Therefore, behold, I am against you and against all your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt a desolation, a sword and a ruin, from Migdol and Syene even to the borders of the Ethiopians.

 

11 No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall not be inhabited for forty years.

 

12 And I will make her land a ruin in the midst of a land laid desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of desolated cities for forty years; and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will winnow them into the lands.

 

13 Thus says the Lord: After forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered,

 

14 and I will turn back the captivity of the Egyptians and settle them in the land of Pathros, in the land from which they were taken; and it shall be a lowly kingdom,

 

15 lower than all kingdoms; it shall no more be exalted over the nations, and I will make them few, so that they shall not be many among the nations.

 

16 And they shall no longer be to the house of Israel a hope that brings lawlessness to remembrance, when they followed after them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

17 And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army serve with great servitude against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder rubbed bare, yet no wage came to him or to his army for Tyre and for the service they served against her.

 

19 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am giving to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he shall plunder her plunder and despoil her spoils, and it shall be wages for his army;

 

20 in return for his service which he rendered against Tyre, I have given him the land of Egypt. Thus says the Lord, the Lord:

 

21 In that day a horn shall spring up for all the house of Israel, and to you I will give an opened mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 30

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord: Woe, woe for the day!

 

3 For the day of the Lord is near, a day that shall be the end of nations.

 

4 And a sword shall come upon the Egyptians, and there shall be tumult in Ethiopia, and the wounded shall fall in Egypt, and her foundations shall collapse.

 

5 Persians and Cretans and Lydians and Libyans and all the mixed peoples, and some of the sons of my covenant, shall fall by the sword in her.

 

6 And the supports of Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her strength shall come down from Magdolus to Syene; they shall fall by the sword in her, says the Lord.

 

7 And it shall be made desolate in the midst of desolated lands, and their cities shall be in the midst of desolated cities;

 

8 and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I set fire upon Egypt and all her helpers are crushed.

 

9 In that day messengers shall go forth hastening to destroy Ethiopia, and there shall be tumult among them in the day of Egypt, for behold, it has come.

 

10 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: And I will destroy the multitude of the Egyptians by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,

 

11 of him and of his people: plagues sent from the nations to destroy the land; and they shall all draw their swords against Egypt, and the land shall be filled with the wounded.

 

12 And I will make their rivers desolate, and I will destroy the land and its fullness by the hands of strangers; I the Lord have spoken.

 

13 For thus says the Lord, the Lord: And I will destroy the nobles from Memphis and the rulers from the land of Egypt, and they shall be no more.

 

14 And I will destroy the land of Pathure, and set fire upon Tanis, and execute vengeance in Diospolis,

 

15 and I will pour out my wrath upon Sais, the strength of Egypt, and I will destroy the multitude of Memphis;

 

16 and I will set fire upon Egypt, and Syene shall be troubled with trouble, and in Diospolis there shall be a breach, and waters shall be poured out.

 

17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastus shall fall by the sword, and the women shall go into captivity.

 

18 And in Taphnas the day shall grow dark, when I break there the scepters of Egypt, and there the pride of her strength shall perish, and a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall be led away captive.

 

19 And I will execute judgment in Egypt, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

21 Son of man, I have broken the arms of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up so as to be given healing, so as to have a plaster put upon it, so as to be given strength to grasp a sword.

 

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, the strong ones and the outstretched ones, and I will strike the sword out of his hand,

 

23 and I will scatter Egypt among the nations and winnow them into the lands;

 

24 and I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword into his hand, and he shall bring it upon Egypt, and shall plunder her plunder and spoil her spoils.

 

25  And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I give my sword into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out over the land of Egypt.

 

26 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations and winnow them into the lands; and they shall all know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 31

 

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: To whom have you likened yourself in your height?

 

3 Behold, Assur was a cypress in Lebanon, beautiful in its branches and lofty in stature; its top came into the midst of the clouds.

 

4 Water nourished it, the deep raised it up; she led her rivers around its plantings and sent forth her streams to all the trees of the plain.

 

5 Because of this its stature was exalted above all the trees of the plain, and its branches were spread wide from the abundant water.

 

6 In its boughs all the birds of the sky nested, and beneath its branches all the beasts of the plain brought forth their young; in its shade dwelt the whole multitude of nations.

 

7 And it was beautiful in its height because of the multitude of its branches, for its roots reached into abundant water.

 

8 Such cypresses were not found in the garden of God, and pines were not like its boughs, and firs were not like its branches; no tree in the garden of God was likened to it in its beauty,

 

9 because of the multitude of its branches, and the trees of God's garden of delight envied it.

 

10 Therefore thus says the Lord: Because you became great in stature and set your top into the midst of the clouds, and I saw when it was exalted,

 

11 I delivered it into the hands of a ruler of nations, and he brought about its destruction.

 

12 And foreign pestilent men from the nations utterly destroyed it and cast it down upon the mountains; in all the ravines its branches fell, and its trunks were broken in every plain of the land, and all the peoples of the nations came down from its shelter and razed it.

 

13 Upon its fall all the birds of the sky rested, and upon its trunks came all the beasts of the field,

 

14 so that all the trees by the water might not be exalted in their stature; and they did not set their tops into the midst of the clouds, and all that drink water did not stand at their height beside them; all were given over to death, to the depth of the earth, in the midst of the sons of men, with those who go down into the pit.

 

15 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: On the day it went down to Hades, the deep mourned for it, and I stayed her rivers and held back the abundance of water, and Lebanon was darkened over it; all the trees of the plain fainted over it.

 

 16 At the sound of its fall the nations were shaken, when I brought it down to Hades with those going down into the pit; and all the trees of delight and the choicest of Lebanon, all that drink water, comforted it in the earth.

 

17 For they too went down with it to Hades, among those slain by the sword; and its seed, those dwelling under its shelter, perished in the midst of their life.

 

18 To whom have you been likened? Go down and be brought down with the trees of delight to the depth of the earth; in the midst of the uncircumcised you shall lie with those slain by the sword. Thus is Pharaoh and the multitude of his strength, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

Chapter 32

 

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, take up a lament over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and you shall say to him: You were likened to a lion of the nations, and you were like a dragon in the sea; and you butted with your rivers and stirred up the water with your feet and trampled your rivers.

 

3 Thus says the Lord: I will cast over you the nets of many peoples, and I will draw you up with my hook,

 

4 and I will stretch you out upon the land; the plains shall be filled with you, and I will cause all the birds of the sky to settle upon you, and I will fill from you all the wild beasts of all the earth.

 

5 And I will give your flesh upon the mountains, and I will fill them with your blood,

 

6 and the land shall be drenched with your excretions, from your multitude upon the mountains; I will fill the ravines with you.

 

7 And I will cover the heaven when you are extinguished, and I will darken its stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall by no means show its light.

 

8 All the things that give light in the heaven shall be darkened over you, and I will bring darkness upon your land, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

9 And I will provoke to anger the heart of many peoples, when I lead your captivity to the nations, to a land which you did not know.

 

10 And many nations shall be gloomy over you, and their kings shall be utterly amazed, when my sword flies before their faces, awaiting their fall from the day of your fall.

 

11 For thus says the Lord: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you

 

12 with the swords of giants, and I will cast down your strength, pestilent ones from the nations, all of them and they shall destroy the pride of Egypt, and all her strength shall be crushed.

 

13 And I will destroy all her cattle from beside the abundant water, and the foot of man shall no longer trouble it, nor shall the hoof of cattle trample it.

 

14 Thus then shall their waters be still, and their rivers shall flow like oil, says the Lord.

 

15 When I give Egypt over to destruction, and the land is made desolate with its fullness, when I scatter all who dwell in it, then they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

16 It is a lament, and you shall lament it, and the daughters of the nations shall lament it; over Egypt and over all her strength they shall lament her, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

17 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

18 Son of man, lament over the strength of Egypt, and the nations shall bring down her daughters dead to the depth of the earth, to those who go down into the pit.

 

20 In the midst of those slain by the sword they shall fall with him, and all his strength shall lie down.

 

21 And the giants shall say to you: Be in the depth of the pit, than whom are you better? Go down and lie with the uncircumcised in the midst of those slain by the sword.

 

22 There is Assur and all his assembly; all the slain were placed there, and their burial is in the depth of the pit, and his assembly was set round about his tomb, all the slain who fell by the sword,

 

23 who spread their terror upon the land of the living.

 

24 There is Elam and all his host round about his tomb, all the slain who fell by the sword, and those who go down uncircumcised into the depth of the earth, who spread their terror upon the land of the living; and they received their torment with those who go down into the pit,

 

25 in the midst of the slain.

 

26 There were placed Mosoch and Thobel and all their strength round about his tomb, all his slain, all uncircumcised, slain by the sword, who spread their terror upon the land of the living.

 

27 And they lay down with the giants who fell of old, who went down to Hades with weapons of war and laid their swords under their heads; and their iniquities were upon their bones, because they terrified giants in the land of the living.

 

28 And you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.

 

29 There were placed the rulers of Assur, who gave up his strength to the wound of the sword; these lay with the slain, with those who go down into the pit.

 

30 There are the rulers of the north, all the generals of Assur, who go down slain; with their terror and their strength they lay uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, and they bore their torment with those who go down into the pit.

 

31 Pharaoh the king shall see them and shall be comforted over all their strength, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

32 For I have put his terror upon the land of the living, and he shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword — Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

Chapter 33

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them: Concerning a land upon which I bring a sword—if the people of the land take one man from among them and set him for themselves as a watchman,

 

3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and gives warning to the people,

 

4 and whoever hears the sound of the trumpet hears it but does not take heed, and the sword comes and overtakes him, his blood shall be upon his own head;

 

5 because having heard the sound of the trumpet he did not take heed, his blood shall be upon himself; but this man, because he took heed, has delivered his own soul.

 

6 But as for the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and does not sound the trumpet, and the people do not take heed, and the sword comes and takes a soul from among them, that soul was taken because of its own lawlessness, but the blood I will require from the hand of the watchman.

 

7 And you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from my mouth.

 

8 When I say to the sinner, You shall surely die, and you do not speak so as to warn the impious man from his way, that lawless man shall die in his lawlessness, but his blood I will require from your hand.

 

9 But if you forewarn the impious man of his way, that he turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his impiety, and you have delivered your own soul.

 

10 And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus have you spoken, saying: Our errors and our lawless deeds are upon us, and in them we waste away; how then shall we live?

 

11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the impious, but rather that the impious turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your way; and why will you die, O house of Israel?

 

12 Say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous shall by no means deliver him on the day when he goes astray, and the lawlessness of the impious shall by no means harm him on the day when he turns from his lawlessness; and the righteous shall by no means be able to be saved.

 

13 When I say to the righteous man, This one has trusted in his righteousness and he commits lawlessness, all his righteous deeds shall by no means be remembered; in his injustice which he has done, in it he shall die.

 

14 And when I say to the impious, You shall surely die, and he turns from his sin and does judgment and righteousness,

 

15 and restores a pledge and repays what he has seized, walks in the ordinances of life so as to do no wrong, he shall surely live and shall by no means die;

 

16 all his sins which he has sinned shall by no means be remembered; because he has done judgment and righteousness, in them he shall live.

 

17 And the sons of your people will say: The way of the Lord is not straight; yet this very way of theirs is not straight.

 

18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits lawless deeds, he shall also die in them;

 

19 and when the sinner turns from his lawlessness and does judgment and righteousness, in them he himself shall live.

 

20 And this is what you said: The way of the Lord is not straight. I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.

 

21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifth day of the month of our captivity, that the one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying: The city has been taken.

 

22 And the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came, and he opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth, once opened, was no longer held shut.

 

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

24 Son of man, those who inhabit the desolate places in the land of Israel say: Abraham was one man and possessed the land, and we are more numerous; the land has been given to us as a possession.

 

25 Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord, the Lord:

 

27 As I live, surely those in the desolate places shall fall by the sword, and those upon the face of the plain shall be given to the beasts of the field to be devoured, and those in the fortified places and those in the caves I will kill by death.

 

28 And I will make the land a desolation, and the pride of her strength shall perish, and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate because there is no one passing through.

 

29 And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land a desolation, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

 

30 And you, son of man—the sons of your people who talk about you beside the walls and in the gateways of the houses, and speak, a man to his brother, saying: Let us come together and hear the things that come forth from the Lord

 

31 they come to you, as a people gathers, and sit before you and hear your words, but they will by no means do them; for a lie is in their mouth, and their heart goes after their defilements.

 

32 And you are to them like the sound of a sweet-voiced, well-tuned harp; and they will hear your words but will by no means do them.

 

33 But whenever it comes, they will say: Behold, it has come; and they shall know that a prophet was in their midst.

 

Chapter 34

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord, the Lord: O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? Do not the shepherds feed the sheep?

 

3 Behold, you consume the milk and clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fat one, but my sheep you do not feed.

 

4 The weak one you have not strengthened, and the one that was sick you have not made whole, and the one that was broken you have not bound up, and the one that strayed you have not turned back, and the lost one you have not sought, and the strong one you have worn down with toil.

 

5 And my sheep were scattered because there were no shepherds, and they became food for all the wild beasts of the field.

 

6 And my sheep were scattered on every mountain and on every high hill, and they were scattered over the face of all the earth, and there was no one to seek them nor to bring them back.

 

7 Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

 

8 As I live, says the Lord, the Lord, surely because my sheep became plunder and my sheep became food for all the wild beasts of the plain, since there were no shepherds, and the shepherds did not seek out my sheep, and the shepherds fed themselves but did not feed my sheep—

 

9 therefore, shepherds,

 

10 thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will turn them away from tending my sheep, and the shepherds shall feed them no longer; and I will deliver my sheep out of their mouth, and they shall no longer be food for them.

 

11 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I myself will seek out my sheep and will visit them.

 

12 As the shepherd seeks his flock on a day when there is gloom and cloud in the midst of scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and will drive them away from every place where they were scattered on a day of cloud and gloom.

 

13 And I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and in the ravines and in every settled place of the land.

 

14 In good pasture I will feed them, and on the high mountain of Israel shall be their folds; there they shall lie down and there they shall rest in good luxury, and in rich pasture they shall be fed on the mountains of Israel.

 

15 I will feed my sheep, and I will give them rest, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord, the Lord:

 

16 The lost I will seek, and the straying I will turn back, and the broken I will bind up, and the failing I will strengthen, and the strong I will guard, and I will feed them with judgment.

 

17 And as for you, sheep, thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats.

 

18 And was it not enough for you that you fed on the good pasture, that you also trampled the remainder of your pasture with your feet? And you drank the still water and stirred up the rest with your feet;

 

19 and my sheep fed on what your feet had trampled and drank the water muddied by your feet.

 

20 Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I will judge between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.

 

21 With your flanks and your shoulders you pushed, and with your horns you butted, and every failing one you squeezed out.

 

22 And I will save my sheep, and they shall no longer be for plunder, and I will judge between ram and ram.

 

23  And I will raise up over them one shepherd, and he shall tend them, my servant David and he shall be their shepherd.

 

24 And I the Lord will be their God, and David a ruler in their midst; I the Lord have spoken.

 

25 And I will make with David a covenant of peace, and I will remove evil beasts from the land, and they shall dwell in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.

 

26 And I will settle them round about my mountain; and I will give you rain, a rain of blessing.

 

27 And the trees in the plain shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her strength, and they shall dwell in their land in hope of peace, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break their yoke; and I will deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

 

28 And they shall no longer be plunder for the nations, and the beasts of the earth shall no more devour them; and they shall dwell in hope, and there shall be no one to terrify them.

 

29 And I will raise up for them a plant of peace, and they shall no longer perish by famine in the land, nor shall they any longer bear the reproach of the nations.

 

30 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and that they are my people, the house of Israel, says the Lord.

 

31 You are my sheep and the sheep of my flock, and I am the Lord your God, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

Chapter 35

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,

 

3 and say, Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolation, and you shall be laid waste;

 

4 and I will make your cities a desolation, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

5 Because you have been an everlasting enemy, and lay in wait for the house of Israel with treachery, by the hand of enemies with the sword, in the time of their iniquity, at the end,

 

6 therefore, as I live, says the Lord, the Lord, surely you have sinned unto blood, and blood shall pursue you.

 

7 And I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will destroy from it men and cattle,

 

8 and I will fill your hills and your ravines with your slain, and in all your plains those wounded by the sword shall fall in you.

 

9 I will make you an everlasting desolation, and your cities shall never be inhabited again; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

10 Because you said, The two nations and the two lands shall be mine, and I will inherit them, though the Lord is there,

 

11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord, I will deal with you according to your enmity, and I will be made known to you when I judge you;

 

12 and you shall know that I am the Lord. I heard the voice of your blasphemies, for you said, The mountains of Israel are desolate; they are given to us to devour;

 

13 and you spoke boastfully against me with your mouth; I have heard it.

 

14 Thus says the Lord: While all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation;

 

15 you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Idumea shall be utterly consumed; and you shall know that I am the Lord their God.

 

Chapter 36

 

1 And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say to the mountains of Israel, Hear the word of the Lord.

 

2 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Because the enemy said against you, "Aha! The everlasting desolations have become a possession for us,"

 

3 therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Because you were dishonored and hated by those around you, so that you became a possession for the remaining nations, and you became a byword on the tongue and a reproach to the nations,

 

4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord to the mountains and to the hills and to the ravines and to the torrents and to the places made desolate and destroyed and to the cities that have been abandoned, which became a spoil and a trampling for the nations left round about:

 

5 therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord: Surely in the fire of my wrath I have spoken against the remaining nations and against all Idumea, because they gave my land to themselves as a possession with joy, dishonoring souls, to destroy it by plunder.

 

6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills and to the ravines and to the glens, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I in my zeal and in my wrath have spoken, because you have borne the reproaches of nations.

 

7 Therefore I will lift up my hand against the nations that are round about you; they shall bear their own dishonor.

 

8 But as for you, mountains of Israel, my people shall eat your grapes and your fruit, for they draw near to come.

 

9 For behold, I am for you, and I will look upon you, and you shall be tilled and sown.

 

10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel completely, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the desolate land shall be built up.

 

11 And I will multiply upon you men and cattle, and I will settle you as at your beginning, and I will do good to you as in your former days; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

 

12 And I will beget upon you men, my people Israel, and they shall inherit you, and you shall be a possession for them; and you shall no longer be bereaved of children from among them.

 

13 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Because they said to you, "You are a devourer of men, and you have been bereaved of children by your nation,"

 

14 therefore you shall no longer devour men, and you shall no longer bereave your nation of children, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

15 And the dishonor of nations shall no longer be heard against you, and you shall no longer bear the reproaches of peoples, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

16 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

17 Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt in their land, and they defiled it by their way and by their idols and by their uncleannesses; their way before my face was like the uncleanness of a woman set apart.

 

18 And I poured out my wrath upon them,

 

19 and I scattered them among the nations and winnowed them into the countries; according to their way and according to their sin I judged them.

 

20 And they entered among the nations, wherever they went, and they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of them, "These are the people of the Lord, and they have gone out from his land."

 

21 And I spared them for the sake of my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations, wherever they went.

 

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord: It is not for your sake that I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you profaned among the nations, wherever you went.

 

23 And I will sanctify my great name that was profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when I am sanctified among you before their eyes.

 

24 And I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the lands, and I will bring you into your land.

 

25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you.

 

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

 

27 And I will put my spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my ordinances and to keep and do my judgments.

 

28 And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

 

29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring famine upon you.

 

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you may not bear the reproach of famine among the nations.

 

31 And you shall remember your evil ways and your practices that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves before them for your lawless deeds and for your abominations.

 

32 It is not for your sake that I act, says the Lord, the Lord, let it be known to you; be ashamed and confounded because of your ways, house of Israel.

 

33 Thus says the Lord: In the day when I cleanse you from all your lawless deeds, I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the desolate places shall be built up.

 

34 And the land that was laid waste shall be tilled, whereas it had become a desolation in the eyes of everyone passing by.

 

35 And they shall say, "That land which was laid waste has become like a garden of delight, and the cities that were desolate and destroyed and torn down now sit fortified."

 

36 And the nations, as many as are left round about you, shall know that I the Lord have built up the ruined cities and planted the desolated ones; I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.

 

37 Thus says the Lord: Yet in this I will be sought by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will multiply them like sheep, men.

 

38 Like holy sheep, like the sheep of Jerusalem at her feasts, so shall the desolate cities be full of flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 37

 

1 And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and the Lord brought me out by the Spirit and set me in the midst of the plain, and it was full of human bones.

 

2 And he led me around them on every side, and behold, there were very many upon the face of the plain, very dry.

 

3 And he said to me, "Son of man, shall these bones live?" And I said, "Lord, you know these things."

 

4 And he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and you shall say to them, 'You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord:

 

5 Thus says the Lord to these bones: Behold, I bring upon you the breath of life,

 

6 and I will lay sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and stretch skin over you and put my Spirit into you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"

 

7 And I prophesied as he commanded me. And it came to pass, as I prophesied, behold, an earthquake, and the bones came together, each to its joint.

 

8 And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh were growing upon them, and skin came up over them above, but there was no breath in them.

 

9 And he said to me, "Prophesy, son of man, prophesy to the breath, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord: Come from the four winds and breathe into these dead, and let them live.'"

 

10 And I prophesied as he commanded me; and the breath entered into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great assembly.

 

11 And the Lord spoke to me, saying, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, and they say, 'Our bones have become dry, our hope has perished, we are utterly lost.'

 

12 Therefore prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, I open your tombs, and I will bring you up out of your tombs and bring you into the land of Israel,

 

13 and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves to bring my people up out of the graves.

 

14 And I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live, and I will place you upon your own land, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and will do it, says the Lord.'"

 

15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

16 "Son of man, take for yourself a rod and write upon it 'Judah and the sons of Israel who adhere to him'; and you shall take for yourself a second rod and write upon it, 'For Joseph,' the rod of Ephraim and all the sons of Israel who are joined to him.

 

17 And you shall join them together for yourself into one rod, to bind them, and they shall be in your hand.

 

18 And it shall come to pass, when the sons of your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what these things mean to you?'

 

19 then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will take the tribe of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that adhere to him, and I will place them upon the tribe of Judah, and they shall become one rod in the hand of Judah.'

 

20 And the rods upon which you have written shall be in your hand before them,

 

21 and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I take the whole house of Israel from the midst of the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from all those round about them and bring them into the land of Israel.

 

22 And I will make them one nation in my land and on the mountains of Israel, and one ruler shall be over them; and they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever again be divided into two kingdoms,

 

23 so that they may no longer be defiled by their idols. And I will deliver them from all their lawless deeds by which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I the Lord will be their God.

 

24 And my servant David shall be ruler in their midst, and there shall be one shepherd of them all; for they shall walk in my ordinances and keep my judgments and do them.

 

25 And they shall dwell in their land, which I have given to my servant Jacob, where their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell upon it, they themselves, and David my servant shall be their ruler forever.

 

26 And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever.

 

27 And my dwelling shall be among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 

28 And the nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.'"

 

Chapter 38

 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

2 Son of man, set your face against Gog and the land of Magog, the ruler of Rhos, Mosoch, and Thobel, and prophesy against him,

 

3 and say to him: Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Gog, ruler of Rhos, Mosoch, and Thobel;

 

4 and I will gather you and all your force, horses and horsemen, all clothed with breastplates, a great assembly, with shields and helmets and swords;

 

5 Persians and Ethiopians and Libyans, all with helmets and shields;

 

6 Gomer and all those around him, the house of Thergama from the farthest north and all those around him; and many nations with you.

 

7 Be prepared; prepare yourself, you and all your assembly that is gathered with you, and you shall be for me as a guard.

 

8 After many days he shall be prepared, and at the end of years he shall come and arrive at the land that has been turned back from the sword, its people gathered from many nations, to the land of Israel, which became utterly desolate; and this one has come out from the nations, and they shall all dwell in peace.

 

9 And you shall go up like rain and shall come like a cloud to cover the land, and you shall be there, you and all those around you, and many nations with you.

 

10 Thus says the Lord, the Lord: And it shall come to pass in that day that words shall rise up into your heart, and you shall devise evil devices,

 

11 and you shall say: I will go up against a land cast off; I will come upon those who are quiet in tranquility and dwell in peace, all who inhabit a land in which there is no wall nor bars, and they have no doors,

 

12 to plunder plunder and to spoil their spoils, to turn your hand against the desolated land that has been settled, and against a nation gathered from many nations, having acquired possessions, dwelling upon the navel of the earth.

 

13 Saba and Daidan and the Carthaginian merchants and all their villages shall say to you: Do you come to plunder plunder and to spoil spoils? Have you gathered your assembly to take silver and gold, to carry off possessions, to spoil spoils?

 

14 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord: Will you not arise in that day, when my people Israel is settled in peace?

 

15 And you shall come from your place from the farthest north, and many nations with you, all riders of horses, a great assembly and a great force;

 

16 and you shall go up against my people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall be in the last days, and I will bring you up against my land, so that all the nations may know me, when I am sanctified in you before their eyes.

 

17 Thus says the Lord, the Lord, to Gog: You are he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, in those days and years, that I would bring you against them.

 

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord, the Lord, that my wrath shall rise up,

 

19 and my jealousy. In the fire of my anger I have spoken: Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel,

 

20 and the fish of the sea shall shake at the presence of the Lord, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth; and the mountains shall be torn apart, and the ravines shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

 

21 And I will summon against him every fear, says the Lord; the sword of a man shall be against his brother.

 

22 And I will judge him with death and with blood and with flooding rain and with hailstones, and I will rain fire and brimstone upon him and upon all those with him and upon many nations with him.

 

23 And I will be magnified and sanctified and glorified and made known before many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Chapter 39

 

1 And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Gog, ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,

 

2 and I will gather you and lead you down and bring you up from the farthest north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.

 

3 And I will destroy your bow from your left hand and your arrows from your right hand, and I will cast you down

 

4 upon the mountains of Israel, and you shall fall, you and all those around you, and the nations that are with you shall be given to multitudes of birds; to every winged creature and to all the beasts of the plain I have given you to be devoured.

 

5 You shall fall on the face of the plain, for I have spoken, says the Lord.

 

6 And I will send fire upon Gog, and the islands shall be inhabited in peace; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

7 And my holy name shall be known in the midst of my people Israel, and my holy name shall no longer be profaned; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, holy in Israel.

 

8 Behold, it is coming, and you shall know that it shall be, says the Lord, the Lord; this is the day of which I spoke.

 

9 And those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go out and burn the weapons—shields and staves and bows and arrows and hand-staffs and spears; and they shall burn fire with them for seven years.

 

10 And they shall by no means take wood from the plain, nor shall they cut from the forests, but they shall burn the weapons with fire; and they shall plunder those who plundered them and despoil those who despoiled them, says the Lord.

 

11 And it shall be on that day that I will give to Gog a place of renown, a memorial in Israel, the burial place of those who came, near the sea, and they shall build around the mouth of the ravine; and they shall bury there Gog and all his multitude, and it shall be called the Valley of the Burial Place of Gog.

 

12 And the house of Israel shall bury them, so that the land may be cleansed, in seven months;

 

13 and all the people of the land shall bury them, and it shall be to them for renown, on the day in which I was glorified, says the Lord.

 

14 And they shall appoint men continually to go throughout the land to bury those left on the face of the land, to cleanse it after the seven months, and they shall search.

 

15 And everyone passing through the land, when he sees a human bone, shall build a marker beside it, until those who bury bury it in the Valley of the Burial Place of Gog;

 

16 for indeed the name of the city is Burial Place; and the land shall be cleansed.

 

17 And you, son of man, say: Thus says the Lord: Say to every winged bird and to all the beasts of the plain: Gather yourselves and come, gather from all around to my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.

 

18 You shall eat the flesh of giants and drink the blood of the rulers of the earth, rams and calves and goats, and the calves all fattened.

 

19 And you shall eat fat to fullness and drink blood to drunkenness from my sacrifice which I sacrificed for you.

 

20 And you shall be filled at my table with horse and rider, giant and every man of war, says the Lord.

 

21 And I will set my glory among you, and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have executed, and my hand which I have brought upon them.

 

22 And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from this day and onward.

 

23 And all the nations shall know that because of their sins the house of Israel was taken captive, because they dealt faithlessly with me, and I turned my face away from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

 

24 According to their uncleannesses and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I turned my face away from them.

 

25 Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord: Now I will turn back the captivity of Jacob and have mercy on the house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.

 

26 And they shall bear their own dishonor and the wrong that they did, when they are settled upon their land in peace, and there shall be no one to frighten them.

 

27 When I bring them back from the nations and gather them from the lands of the nations, I will also be sanctified in them before the nations,

 

28 and they shall know that I am the Lord their God, when I reveal myself to them among the nations.

 

29 And I will no longer turn my face away from them, because I poured out my wrath upon the house of Israel, says the Lord, the Lord.

 

Chapter 40

 

1 And it came to pass in the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the first month, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that day the hand of the Lord came upon me and led me

 

2 in a vision of God into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, and upon it there was as it were the structure of a city opposite.

 

3 And he brought me in there, and behold, a man, and his appearance was like the appearance of gleaming bronze, and in his hand was a builder's line and a measuring reed, and he stood at the gate.

 

4 And the man said to me, "Have you seen, son of man? Look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and set in your heart all things that I show you, for it is in order to show you that you have come here, and you shall show all that you see to the house of Israel."

 

5 And behold, a wall outside the house round about; and in the man's hand a reed, the measure of six cubits by the cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the outer wall, its breadth equal to the reed and its height equal to the reed.

 

6 And he entered the gate facing east by seven steps, and measured the porch of the gate, equal to the reed,

 

7 and the chamber equal to the reed in length and equal to the reed in breadth, and the porch between the chambers six cubits; and the second chamber equal to the reed in breadth and equal to the reed in length, and the porch five cubits;

 

8 and the third chamber equal to the reed in breadth and equal to the reed in length;

 

9 and the porch of the gateway, near the porch of the gate, eight cubits, and the pilasters two cubits, and the porch of the gate was on the inside;

 

10 and the chambers of the gate were chamber facing chamber, three on this side and three on that, and there was one measure for the three, and one measure for the porches on this side and on that.

 

11 And he measured the breadth of the door of the gateway, ten cubits, and the width of the gateway, thirteen cubits,

 

12 and a cubit was drawn together before the chambers on this side and on that; and the chamber was six cubits on this side and six cubits on that.

 

13 And he measured the gate from the wall of one chamber to the wall of the other chamber, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; this gate was opposite that gate.

 

14 And the open court of the porch of the gate was sixty cubits, with twenty chambers of the gate round about;

 

15 and the open space of the gate from without to the open space of the porch of the gate within was fifty cubits;

 

16 and there were hidden windows on the chambers and on the porches within the gate of the court round about, and likewise windows on the porches round about within, and on the porch palm trees on this side and on that.

 

17 And he brought me into the inner court, and behold, chambers and colonnades round about the court, thirty chambers in the colonnades,

 

18 and the porticoes were behind the gates; along the length of the gates was the lower colonnade.

 

19 And he measured the breadth of the court from the open space of the outer gate within to the open space of the gate facing outward, a hundred cubits, of that facing east. And he brought me toward the north,

 

20 and behold, a gate facing north belonging to the outer court, and he measured it, both its length and its breadth,

 

21 and its chambers, three on this side and three on that, and its pilasters and its porches and its palm trees; and it was according to the measures of the gate facing east, fifty cubits its length and twenty-five cubits its breadth.

 

22 And its windows and its porches and its palm trees were like the gate facing east; and by seven steps they went up to it, and its porches were within.

 

23 And there was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, after the manner of the gate facing east; and he measured the court from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

 

24 And he led me toward the south, and behold, a gate facing south, and he measured it, and its chambers and its pilasters and its porches, according to these measures.

 

25 And its windows and its porches round about were like the windows of the porch, fifty cubits its length and twenty-five cubits its breadth.

 

26 And it had seven steps, and porches within, and it had palm trees, one on this side and one on that, upon the pilasters.

 

27 And there was a gate opposite the gate of the inner court toward the south; and he measured the court from gate to gate, a hundred cubits, the breadth toward the south.

 

28 And he brought me into the inner court of the gate toward the south, and he measured the gate according to these measures,

 

29 and the chambers and the pilasters and the porches according to these measures; and it had windows, and the porches round about; fifty cubits its length and its breadth twenty-five cubits.

 

31 And its porches were toward the outer court, and palm trees were on the pilaster, and it had eight steps.

 

32 And he brought me into the gate facing east, and he measured it according to these measures,

 

33 and the chambers and the pilasters and the porches according to these measures; and it had windows, and the porches round about, fifty cubits its length and its breadth twenty-five cubits.

 

34 And its porches were toward the inner court, and palm trees on the pilaster on this side and on that, and it had eight steps.

 

35 And he brought me into the gate toward the north, and he measured according to these measures,

 

36 and the chambers and the pilasters and the porches; and it had windows round about, and its porches; fifty cubits its length and its breadth twenty-five cubits.

 

37 And its porches were toward the outer court, and palm trees on the pilaster on this side and on that, and it had eight steps.

 

38 Its chambers and its doorways and its porches at the second gate had an outlet, so that they might slay in it the offerings for sin and for ignorance;

 

39-40 and behind the drain of the whole burnt offerings of the gate facing north were two tables toward the east, and behind the second gate and the porch of the gate two tables toward the east,

 

41 four on this side and four on that behind the gate; on them they shall slay the sacrificial victims, opposite the eight tables of the victims.

 

42 And there were four tables for the whole burnt offerings, of hewn stone, a cubit and a half the breadth, and two cubits and a half the length, and a cubit the height; on them they shall lay the implements with which they slay there the whole burnt offerings and the victims.

 

43 And they shall have a hewn ledge of a handbreadth within round about, and over the tables above, coverings to shelter them from the rain and from the drought.

 

44 And he brought me into the inner court, and behold, two chambers in the inner court, one behind the gate facing north, opening toward the south, and one behind the gate toward the south, but facing north.

 

45 And he said to me, "This chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep the charge of the house,

 

46 and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep the charge of the altar; those are the sons of Sadduk, who draw near from Levi to the Lord to minister to him."

 

47 And he measured the court, a hundred cubits in length and a hundred cubits in breadth, on its four sides, and the altar was opposite the house.

 

48 And he brought me into the porch of the house. And he measured the pilaster of the porch, five cubits the breadth on this side and five cubits on that, and the width of the doorway fourteen cubits, and the side-walls of the door of the porch three cubits on this side and three cubits on that;

 

49 and the length of the porch was twenty cubits and the breadth twelve cubits; and by ten steps they went up to it; and there were pillars at the porch, one on this side and one on that.

 

Chapter 41

 

1 And he brought me into the temple, whose porch he measured, six cubits the breadth on one side and six cubits the breadth of the porch on the other,

 

2 and the breadth of the gateway was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the gateway five cubits on one side and five cubits on the other; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.

 

3 And he went into the inner court and measured the pillar of the doorway, two cubits, and the doorway, six cubits, and the sidewalls of the doorway, seven cubits on one side and seven cubits on the other.

 

4 And he measured the length of the doors, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the face of the temple. And he said, "This is the holy of holies."

 

5 And he measured the wall of the house, six cubits, and the breadth of the side-chamber, four cubits, round about.

 

6 And the side-chambers were chamber upon chamber, thirty-three, twice over; and there was a space in the wall of the house at the side-chambers round about, so that those who took hold might see, so that they should not at all touch the walls of the house.

 

7 And the breadth of the upper part of the side-chambers was according to the projection from the wall toward the upper part, round about the house, so that it might be widened above, and so that from the lower parts they might go up to the upper stories, and from the middle ones to the third stories.

 

8 And the raised base of the house was in height round about, a space of the side-chambers equal to the reed, a space of six cubits.

 

9 And the breadth of the wall of the side-chamber outside was five cubits; and the spaces left between the side-chambers of the house

 

10 and between the chambers were twenty cubits in breadth, the circuit of the house round about. 11 And the doors of the chambers opened onto the space left, one door toward the north, and the one door toward the south; and the breadth of the light of the space left was five cubits in width round about.

 

 

12 And the dividing structure facing the space left, toward the sea, was seventy cubits; the width of the wall of the dividing structure was five cubits, the breadth round about, and its length ninety cubits.

 

13 And he measured opposite the house a length of one hundred cubits, and the spaces left and the dividing structures and their walls were one hundred cubits in length,

 

14 and the breadth facing the house and the spaces left opposite were one hundred cubits.

 

15 And he measured the length of the dividing structure facing the space left behind that house, and the spaces left on this side and on that, one hundred cubits in length. And the temple and the corners and the outer porch

 

16 were paneled, and the windows were latticed, with openings for light round about for the three, so as to look through; and the house and the adjoining parts were paneled with wood round about, and the floor, and from the floor up to the windows; and the windows opened in three parts, so as to look through.

 

17 And as far as the inner part and as far as the outer, and upon the whole wall round about, within and without,

 

18 were carved cherubim, and palm trees between cherub and cherub; the cherub had two faces,

 

19 the face of a man toward the palm tree on one side and on the other, and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on one side and on the other; the whole house was carved round about,

 

20 from the floor up to the paneling the cherubim and the palm trees were carved.

 

21 And the holy place and the temple opened four-square. Before the face of the holy places there was an appearance like the sight

 

22 of a wooden altar, three cubits its height, and its length two cubits, and its breadth two cubits; and it had horns, and its base and its walls were of wood; and he said to me, "This is the table which is before the face of the Lord."

 

23 And the temple and the holy place had two doorways;

 

24 two doorways to the two turning doorways, two leaves to the one and two leaves to the second door.

 

25 And there was carving upon them, and upon the doorways of the temple were cherubim and palm trees, according to the carving of the holy places, and stout timbers before the face of the porch outside,

 

26 and hidden windows. And he measured on this side and on that, at the roofings of the porch; and the side-chambers of the house were joined together.

 

Chapter 42

 

1 And he led me out into the outer court toward the east, opposite the gate that faces north; and he brought me in, and behold, five chambers adjoining the remaining space and adjoining the dividing wall toward the north,

 

2 a hundred cubits in length toward the north, and the breadth fifty cubits,

 

3 laid out in the same manner as the gates of the inner court and in the same manner as the colonnades of the outer court, arranged in rows facing one another, three porticoes.

 

4 And opposite the chambers was a walkway ten cubits in breadth, a hundred cubits in length; and their doorways faced north.

 

5 And the upper walkways were likewise, because the colonnade projected from it, from the lower colonnade, and the interval; thus colonnade and interval, and thus porticoes;

 

6 for they were threefold and did not have pillars like the pillars of the outer ones; therefore they projected above the lower and the middle ones from the ground.

 

7 And there was light from outside, in the same manner as the chambers of the outer court that face opposite the chambers toward the north, fifty cubits in length;

 

8 for the length of the chambers facing the outer court was fifty cubits, and these are opposite those; the whole was a hundred cubits.

 

9 And the doors of these chambers were at the entrance toward the east, for entering through them from the outer court,

 

10  at the opening of the walkway at its beginning. And toward the south, facing the south, facing the remaining space and facing the dividing wall, were chambers,

 

11 and the walkway in front of them, according to the measurements of the chambers toward the north, both according to their length and according to their breadth, and according to all their exits and according to all their turnings, and according to their lights and according to their doorways,

 

12 like those of the chambers toward the south, and according to the doorways at the beginning of the walkway, as toward a light of the interval of a reed, and toward the east for entering through them. —

 

13 And he said to me: The chambers toward the north and the chambers toward the south, which are in front of the intervals, these are the chambers of the sanctuary, in which the priests, the sons of Sadduk, who draw near to the Lord, shall eat there the most holy things; and there they shall place the most holy things and the sacrifice and the offerings for sin and the offerings for ignorance, because the place is holy.

 

14 None shall enter there except the priests; they shall not go out from the sanctuary into the outer court, so that those who draw near may be holy continually, and may not touch their vestments in which they minister, because they are holy; and they shall put on other garments when they touch the people.

 

15 And the measuring of the house within was completed. And he led me out by way of the gate that faces east, and he measured the plan of the house round about in order.

 

16 And he stood behind the gate facing east and measured five hundred with the measuring reed;

 

17 and he turned to the north and measured the side facing the north, five hundred cubits with the measuring reed;

 

18 and he turned to the sea and measured the side facing the sea, five hundred with the measuring reed;

 

19 and he turned to the south and measured opposite the south, five hundred with the measuring reed;

 

20  the four sides with the same reed. And he set it in order, and their enclosure round about, five hundred toward the east and five hundred cubits in breadth, to make a separation between the holy things and the outer wall that belongs to the ordering of the house.

 

Chapter 43

 

1 And he led me to the gate that looks toward the east, and he brought me out,

 

2 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming by the way of the gate that looks toward the east, and the sound of the camp was like the sound of many redoubling their voices, and the earth shone like a radiance from the glory round about.

 

3 And the vision which I saw was like the vision which I saw when I went in to anoint the city, and the vision of the chariot which I saw was like the vision which I saw at the river Chobar; and I fall upon my face.

 

4 And the glory of the Lord entered into the house by the way of the gate that looks toward the east.

 

5 And a spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the house was full of the glory of the Lord.

 

6 And I stood, and behold, a voice from the house of one speaking to me, and the man stood close beside me.

 

7 And he said to me: Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne and the place of the print of my feet, in which my name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel forever; and the house of Israel shall no longer profane my holy name, they and their leaders, by their fornication and by the murders of their leaders in their midst,

 

8 when they set my threshold among their thresholds and my doorposts close beside their doorposts, and they made my wall as though joining me and them, and they profaned my holy name by their lawless deeds which they committed; and I destroyed them in my wrath and with slaughter.

 

9 And now let them put away their fornication and the murders of their leaders from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

 

10 And you, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, and they shall cease from their sins; and show its appearance and its arrangement,

 

11 and they shall bear their punishment for all that they have done. And you shall draw out the house and its exits and its structure, and all its ordinances and all its statutes you shall make known to them, and you shall draw it out before them, and they shall keep all my judgments and all my ordinances and do them.

 

12 And this is the plan of the house upon the top of the mountain: all its boundaries round about are most holy.

 

13 And these are the measures of the altar by the cubit of a cubit and a handbreadth: a hollow, a cubit deep and a cubit in width, and a rim on its edge round about, of a span. And this is the height of the altar:

 

14 from the depth of the beginning of its hollow to the great mercy-seat beneath, two cubits, and the width a cubit; and from the small mercy-seat to the great mercy-seat, four cubits, and the width a cubit;

 

15 and the ariel, four cubits, and from the ariel and above the horns, a cubit.

 

16 And the ariel, twelve cubits in length by twelve cubits in width, square on its four sides;

 

17 and the mercy-seat, fourteen cubits in length by fourteen cubits in width on its four sides; and the rim around it, encircling it, half a cubit, and its border a cubit round about; and its steps facing toward the east.

 

18 And he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: These are the ordinances of the altar on the day of its making, for offering whole burnt offerings upon it and for pouring blood against it.

 

19 And you shall give to the priests, the Levites who are of the seed of Sadduk, who draw near to me, says the Lord God, to minister to me, a calf from the herd for sin;

 

20 and they shall take of its blood and put it upon the four horns of the altar and upon the four corners of the mercy-seat and upon the base round about, and they shall make atonement for it;

 

21 and they shall take the calf that is for sin, and it shall be burned in the set-apart place of the house, outside the holy places.

 

22 And on the second day they shall take two kids of goats without blemish for sin, and they shall make atonement for the altar as they made atonement with the calf;

 

23 and after you have finished the atonement, they shall offer a calf from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish,

 

24 and you shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt upon them and offer them up as whole burnt offerings to the Lord.

 

25 For seven days you shall offer a kid for sin each day, and a calf from the herd and a ram from the flock; they shall offer them without blemish

 

26 for seven days; and they shall make atonement for the altar and cleanse it and fill their hands.

 

27 And it shall be that from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your whole burnt offerings and your peace offerings. And I will accept you, says the Lord.

 

Chapter 44

 

1 And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that looks toward the east, and it was shut.

 

2 And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it, for the Lord God of Israel shall enter through it, and it shall be shut.

 

3 For the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and by his way he shall go out.

 

4 And he brought me in by the way of the gate toward the north, opposite the house, and I looked, and behold, the house of the Lord was full of glory, and I fall upon my face.

 

5 And the Lord said to me, Son of man, set it in your heart, and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all things that I speak with you, according to all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and according to all its statutes; and you shall set your heart upon the entrance of the house, according to all its exits in all the holy places.

 

6 And you shall say to the provoking house, to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Let it be enough for you of all your lawless deeds, O house of Israel,

 

7 that you have brought in foreign sons, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my holy places, and they profaned them when you offered loaves, fat and blood; and you transgressed my covenant with all your lawless deeds,

 

8 and you appointed others to keep the charges in my holy places.

 

9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: No foreign son, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my holy places, of all the foreign sons who are in the midst of the house of Israel,

 

10 but only the Levites, who leaped away from me when Israel went astray from me after their imaginations, and they shall bear their iniquity;

 

11 and they shall be ministers in my holy places, gatekeepers at the gates of the house and ministering to the house; these shall slaughter the whole burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and these shall stand before the people to minister to them.

 

12 Because they ministered to them before the face of their idols, and it became to the house of Israel a punishment of iniquity, therefore I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord God,

 

13 and they shall not draw near to me to serve me as priests, nor to approach the holy things of the sons of Israel, nor to my most holy things; and they shall bear their dishonor in the straying wherein they went astray.

 

14 And they shall appoint them to keep the charges of the house, for all its works and for all whatever they shall do.

 

15 The priests, the Levites, the sons of Sadduk, who kept the charges of my holy places when the house of Israel went astray from me, these shall draw near to me to minister to me, and shall stand before my face to offer to me sacrifice, fat and blood, says the Lord God.

 

16 These shall enter into my holy places, and these shall approach my table to minister to me, and they shall keep my charges.

 

17 And it shall be, when they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall put on linen garments, and they shall not put on woolen garments while they minister from the gate of the inner court;

 

18 and they shall have linen turbans upon their heads, and shall have linen drawers upon their loins, and they shall not gird themselves tightly.

 

19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and shall lay them in the chambers of the sanctuary, and shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

 

20 And they shall not shave their heads, nor shall they pluck their hair; covering they shall cover their heads.

 

21 And no priest shall drink wine when they enter into the inner court.

 

22 And they shall not take for themselves as wife a widow or one divorced, but only a virgin of the seed of Israel; but if there be a widow of a priest, they may take her.

 

23 And they shall teach my people between holy and profane, and shall make known to them between unclean and clean.

 

24 And in a judgment of blood these shall stand to decide; they shall justify my ordinances and judge my judgments, and they shall keep my statutes and my ordinances in all my feasts, and they shall sanctify my sabbaths.

 

25 And they shall not go in to a dead person to be defiled, except for father and mother and son and daughter and brother, and for his sister who has not been married, he may be defiled.

 

26 And after he has been cleansed, he shall count for himself seven days;

 

27 and on whatever day they enter into the inner court to minister in the holy place, they shall offer a propitiation, says the Lord God.

 

28 And it shall be to them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance, and no possession shall be given to them among the sons of Israel, for I am their possession.

 

29 And they shall eat the sacrifices and the offerings for sin and for ignorance, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

 

30 The firstfruits of all things, and the firstborn of all, and all the offerings of all your firstfruits shall be for the priests; and you shall give your first produce to the priest, to place your blessings upon your houses.

 

31 And the priests shall not eat anything dead of itself or torn by beasts, whether of birds or of cattle.

 

Chapter 45

 

1 And when you measure out the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart a first-fruit for the Lord, a holy portion from the land: twenty-five thousand in length and twenty thousand in breadth; it shall be holy in all its borders round about.

 

2 And from this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred by five hundred, square round about, and fifty cubits as an open space for it round about.

 

3 And from this measurement you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand and a breadth of ten thousand, and in it shall be the sanctuary, the holy of holies.

 

4 It shall be from the land for the priests who minister in the holy place, and it shall be for those who draw near to minister to the Lord; and it shall be for them a place for houses set apart for their sanctification.

 

5 Twenty-five thousand in length and ten thousand in breadth shall be for the Levites who minister to the house, for them as a possession, cities to dwell in.

 

6 And you shall give the possession of the city, five thousand in breadth and twenty-five thousand in length; in the same manner as the first-fruit of the holy things, they shall be for all the house of Israel.

 

7 And for the ruler there shall be a portion out of this and from this, toward the first-fruits of the holy things, toward the possession of the city, in front of the first-fruits of the holy things and in front of the possession of the city, on the parts toward the sea and from the parts toward the sea eastward; and the length shall be as one of the portions, from the borders toward the sea, and the length shall extend to the borders toward the east of the land.

 

8 And it shall be to him for a possession in Israel, and the rulers of Israel shall no longer oppress my people, and the house of Israel shall inherit the land according to their tribes.

 

9 Thus says the Lord God: Let it suffice you, O rulers of Israel; remove injustice and misery, and execute judgment and righteousness; take away oppression from my people, says the Lord God.

 

10 You shall have a just balance and a just measure and a just choenix.

 

11 The measure and the choenix shall likewise be one, for taking: the choenix shall be the tenth of the gomor, and the measure the tenth of the gomor; it shall be equal in relation to the gomor.

 

12 And the weight shall be twenty obols; five shekels shall be five, and ten shekels shall be ten, and fifty shekels shall be your mina.

 

13 And this is the first-fruit which you shall set apart: a sixth of the measure from the gomor of wheat, and the sixth of the ephah from the cor of barley.

 

14 And the ordinance of the oil: a cotyla of oil from ten cotylae, for the ten cotylae are a gomor.

 

15 And one sheep from every ten sheep, an offering from all the families of Israel, for sacrifices and for whole burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to make atonement for you, says the Lord God.

 

16 And all the people shall give this first-fruit to the ruler of Israel.

 

17 And through the ruler shall be the whole burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the drink offerings shall be at the feasts and at the new moons and on the sabbaths and at all the feasts of the house of Israel; he shall offer the sin offerings and the sacrifice and the whole burnt offerings and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.

 

18 Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take an unblemished calf from the herd to make atonement for the holy place.

 

19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the atonement and shall put it on the doorposts of the house and on the four corners of the temple and on the altar and on the doorposts of the gate of the inner court.

 

20 And so you shall do in the seventh month; on the first day of the month you shall take a portion from each one, and you shall make atonement for the house.

 

21 And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover as a feast; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

 

22 And the ruler shall offer on that day, for himself and for the house and for all the people of the land, a calf as a sin offering.

 

23 And during the seven days of the feast he shall offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord, seven calves and seven unblemished rams daily for the seven days, and a kid of the goats daily as a sin offering.

 

24 And as a sacrifice you shall make a cake for the calf and a cake for the ram, and a hin of oil for the cake.

 

25 And in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, you shall do according to the same things for seven days: as the sin offerings, and as the whole burnt offerings, and as the manaa, and as the oil.

 

Chapter 46

 

1 Thus says the Lord God: The gate in the inner court that faces east shall be shut during the six working days, but on the day of the sabbaths it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

 

2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate from without, and he shall stand at the threshold of the gate, and the priests shall offer his whole burnt offerings and his peace offerings; and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and shall go out, and the gate shall by no means be shut until evening.

 

3 And the people of the land shall worship at the threshold of that gate on the sabbaths and on the new moons before the Lord.

 

4 And the prince shall offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord: on the day of the sabbaths, six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish,

 

5 and as a grain offering a cake for the ram, and for the lambs a sacrifice, the gift of his hand, and a hin of oil for the cake;

 

6 and on the day of the new moon, a calf without blemish and six lambs, and there shall be a ram without blemish,

 

7 and a cake for the ram and a cake for the calf shall be the grain offering, and for the lambs according as his hand can furnish, and a hin of oil for the cake.

 

8 And when the prince enters, he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and by the way of the gate he shall go out.

 

9 And when the people of the land enter before the Lord at the feasts, he who enters by the way of the gate toward the north to worship shall go out by the way of the gate toward the south, and he who enters by the way of the gate toward the south shall go out by the way of the gate toward the north; he shall not return by the gate by which he entered, but shall go out straight ahead of it.

 

10 And the prince shall enter in their midst when they enter, with them, and when they go out he shall go out.

 

11 And at the feasts and at the solemn assemblies the grain offering shall be a cake for the calf and a cake for the ram, and for the lambs according as his hand can furnish, and a hin of oil for the cake.

 

12 And if the prince should make a vow, a whole burnt offering of peace to the Lord, then he shall open for himself the gate that faces east, and he shall offer his whole burnt offering and his peace offerings, in the manner he does on the day of the sabbaths, and he shall go out and shut the doors after he goes out.

 

13 And he shall offer a lamb a year old without blemish as a whole burnt offering daily to the Lord; in the morning he shall offer it;

 

14 and he shall make a grain offering with it in the morning, a sixth of the measure, and a third of a hin of oil to mix with the fine flour, a grain offering to the Lord, a perpetual ordinance.

 

15 You shall offer the lamb and the grain offering and the oil; you shall offer them in the morning, a whole burnt offering perpetually.

 

16 Thus says the Lord God: If the prince gives a gift to one of his sons out of his inheritance, this shall be for his sons a possession as an inheritance.

 

17 But if he gives a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of release, and then he shall restore it to the prince; but the inheritance of his sons shall be theirs.

 

18 And the prince shall by no means take from the inheritance of the people so as to oppress them; from his own possession he shall give inheritance to his sons, so that my people may not be scattered, each from his possession.

 

19 And he brought me into the entrance at the back of the gate, into the chamber of the holy things belonging to the priests, which faces north, and behold, a place there set apart.

 

20 And he said to me: This is the place where the priests shall boil the offerings for ignorance and the offerings for sin, and there they shall bake the grain offering entirely, so as not to carry them out into the outer court, to sanctify the people.

 

21 And he brought me out into the outer court and led me around to the four sides of the court, and behold, a court on each side of the court, a court on each side of the court;

 

22 on the four sides of the court a small court, forty cubits in length and thirty cubits in breadth, one measure for the four.

 

23 And chambers round about in them, round about the four, and cooking places made beneath the chambers round about.

 

24 And he said to me: These are the houses of the cooks, where those who minister to the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.

 

Chapter 47

 

1 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and behold, water came forth from beneath the open court toward the east, for the front of the house faced east, and the water came down from the right side, from the south, upon the altar.

 

2  And he led me out by the way of the gate that faces north, and led me around by the way outside to the gate of the court that faces east; and behold, the water came down from the right side.

 

3 As a man was going out opposite, with a measuring line in his hand, he measured a thousand with the measure, and he passed through the water, water of release.

 

4 And he measured a thousand, and passed through the water, water up to the thighs; and he measured a thousand, and passed through water up to the loins.

 

5 And he measured a thousand, and he could not pass through, because the water swelled up like the rushing of a torrent that they shall not cross.

 

6 And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man?" And he led me to the bank of the river.

 

7 As I turned back, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on this side and on that.

 

8 And he said to me, "This water that goes forth into Galilee, which is toward the east, went down also upon Arabia and came as far as the sea, to the water of the outlet, and it shall heal the waters.

 

9 And it shall be that every living soul of the creatures that swarm, upon everything upon which the river shall come there, shall live; and there shall be very many fish there, because this water has come there, and it shall heal, and it shall live; everything upon which the river shall come there shall live.

 

10 And fishermen shall stand there from Aingadin to Ainagalim; it shall be a place for drying nets; it shall be by itself, and its fish shall be like the fish of the great sea, a very great multitude.

 

11 And in its outlet and in its winding and in its overflowing they shall by no means be healed; they have been given over to salt.

 

12 And by the river there shall come up, on its bank on this side and on that, every tree fit for food; it shall by no means grow old upon it, nor shall its fruit fail; it shall put forth first fruits of its freshness, because their waters come forth from the holy places, and their fruit shall be for food, and their sprouting for health."

 

13 Thus says the Lord God: "These are the borders of the land you shall inherit, for the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, an addition of a measured portion.

 

14 And you shall inherit it, each one like his brother, the land over which I lifted my hand to give it to their fathers and this land shall fall to you as an inheritance.

 

15 And these are the borders of the land toward the north: from the great sea that comes down and divides the entrance of Emath, Seddada,

 

16 Berotha, Sebraim, Eliam, between the borders of Damascus and between the borders of Emath, the court of Saunan, which are above the borders of Auranitis.

 

17 These are the borders from the sea, from the court of Ainan, the borders of Damascus, and the parts toward the north.

 

18 And the parts toward the east, between Auranitis and between Damascus and between Galaaditis and between the land of Israel: the Jordan marks the boundary as far as the sea that is toward the east of the Palm Grove; these are the parts toward the east.

 

19 And the parts toward the south and southwest, from Thaiman and the Palm Grove as far as the water of Marimoth Kades, stretching out to the great sea; this part is the south and southwest.

 

20 This is the part of the great sea: it forms the border as far as opposite the entrance of Emath, as far as its entrance; these are the parts toward the sea of Emath.

 

21 And you shall divide this land among them, among the tribes of Israel.

 

22 You shall cast it by lot for yourselves and for the strangers who sojourn in your midst, who have begotten sons in your midst; and they shall be to you as natives among the sons of Israel; with you they shall eat in an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel.

 

23 And they shall be in the tribe of strangers, among the strangers who are with them; there you shall give them an inheritance, says the Lord God."

 

Chapter 48

 

1 And these are the names of the tribes: from the beginning toward the north, along the part of the descent of the place that divides toward the entrance of Hemath, the court of Ainan, the border of Damascus toward the north along the part of the court of Hemath and the parts from the east as far as those toward the sea shall belong to them: Dan, one portion.

 

2 And from the borders of Dan, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Asher, one.

 

3 And from the borders of Asher, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Naphtali, one.

 

4 And from the borders of Naphtali, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Manasseh, one.

5 And from the borders of Manasseh, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Ephraim, one.

 

6 And from the borders of Ephraim, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Reuben, one.

 

7 And from the borders of Reuben, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Judah, one.

 

8 And from the borders of Judah, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, shall be the firstfruit of the set-apart portion, twenty-five thousand in breadth, and in length like one of the portions from the parts toward the east even to those toward the sea; and the holy place shall be in their midst.

9 The firstfruit which they shall set apart for the Lord: the length twenty-five thousand and the breadth twenty-five thousand.

 

10 Of these shall be the firstfruit of the holy things: for the priests, toward the north twenty-five thousand, and toward the sea a breadth of ten thousand, and toward the east a breadth of ten thousand, and toward the south a length of twenty-five thousand; and the mountain of the holy things shall be in the midst of it,

 

11 for the priests, the sanctified sons of Sadduk, who keep the charges of the house, who did not go astray in the straying of the sons of Israel, in the way the Levites went astray.

 

12 And the firstfruit shall be given to them out of the firstfruits of the land, a holy of holies from the borders of the Levites.

 

13 And to the Levites the parts adjoining the borders of the priests, a length of twenty-five thousand and a breadth of ten thousand: the whole length twenty-five thousand and the breadth twenty thousand.

 

14 None of it shall be sold, nor measured out, nor shall the firstfruits of the land be taken away, because it is holy to the Lord.

 

15 And the five thousand that are left over in the breadth, upon the twenty-five thousand, shall be an outwork for the city, for habitation and for its open space; and the city shall be in the midst of it.

 

16 And these are its measurements: from the parts toward the north, four thousand five hundred; and from the parts toward the south, four thousand five hundred; and from the parts toward the east, four thousand five hundred; and from the parts toward the sea, four thousand five hundred.

 

17 And there shall be an open space for the city: toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the sea two hundred and fifty.

 

18 And the remainder of the length, adjoining the firstfruits of the holy things, ten thousand toward the east and ten thousand toward the sea — and they shall be the firstfruits of the holy place, and its produce shall be for bread for those who work the city.

 

19 And those who work the city shall work it from all the tribes of Israel.

 

20 The whole firstfruit is twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: as a square you shall set apart the firstfruit of the holy place, from the possession of the city.

 

21 And the remainder shall be for the prince, on this side and on that, from the firstfruits of the holy place and toward the possession of the city, over twenty-five thousand in length as far as the borders toward the east, and toward the sea over twenty-five thousand as far as the borders toward the sea, adjoining the portions of the prince; and the firstfruit of the holy things and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst of it.

22 And from the possession of the Levites and from the possession of the city it shall be in the midst of the portions of the prince: between the borders of Judah and between the borders of Benjamin shall be the prince's portion.

 

23 And the remainder of the tribes: from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Benjamin, one.

 

24 And from the borders of Benjamin, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Simeon, one.

 

25 And from the borders of Simeon, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Issachar, one.

 

26 And from the borders of Issachar, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Zebulun, one.

 

27 And from the borders of Zebulun, from the parts toward the east as far as those toward the sea, Gad, one.

 

28 And from the borders of Gad as far as the parts toward the southwest: and its borders shall be from Thaiman and the water of Marimoth Kades, as an inheritance, as far as the great sea.

 

29 This is the land which you shall cast by lot to the tribes of Israel, and these are their divisions, says the Lord God.

 

30 And these are the exits of the city, those toward the north: four thousand five hundred by measure.

 

31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates toward the north, one gate of Reuben, and one gate of Judah, and one gate of Levi.

 

32 And the parts toward the east, four thousand five hundred; and three gates, one gate of Joseph, and one gate of Benjamin, and one gate of Dan.

 

33 And the parts toward the south, four thousand five hundred by measure; and three gates, one gate of Simeon, and one gate of Issachar, and one gate of Zebulun.

 

34 And the parts toward the sea, four thousand five hundred by measure; and three gates, one gate of Gad, and one gate of Asher, and one gate of Naphtali.

 

35 The circuit: eighteen thousand. And the name of the city, from the day it comes to be, shall be its name.