Ezekiel 8–11

1In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.

2Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire, and from His waist up He was as bright as the gleam of amber.

3He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

4And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.

5“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.

6“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing—to drive Me far from My sanctuary? Yet you will see even greater abominations.”

7Then He brought me to the entrance to the court, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall.

8“Son of man,” He told me, “dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway.

9Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations they are committing here.”

10So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.

11Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

12“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

13Again, He told me, “You will see them committing even greater abominations.”

14Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.

15“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Yet you will see even greater abominations than these.”

16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

17“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!

18Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

1Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with a weapon of destruction in hand.”

2And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a weapon of slaughter in his hand. With them was another man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side.

4“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

5And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!

6Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

7Then He told them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

8While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”

9He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’

10But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

11Then the man clothed in linen with the writing kit at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded.”

1And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.

2And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

3Now when the man went in, the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple, and a cloud filled the inner court.

4Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

5The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

6When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.

7Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand and took some of the fire that was among them. And he put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who received it and went out.

8(The cherubim appeared to have the form of human hands under their wings.)

9Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. And the wheels gleamed like a beryl stone.

10As for their appearance, all four had the same form, like a wheel within a wheel.

11When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved. For wherever the head faced, the cherubim would go in that direction, without turning as they moved.

12Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels.

13I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.”

14Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

15Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the River Kebar.

16When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and even when they spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not veer away from their side.

17When the cherubim stood still, the wheels also stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

18Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim.

19As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

20These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.

21Each had four faces and four wings, with what looked like human hands under their wings.

22Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.

1Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people.

2And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.

3They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’

4Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man!”

5And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: “That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds.

6You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

7Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.

8You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD.

9I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.

10You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

11The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel.

12Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

13Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

14Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

15“Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

16Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’

17Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’

18When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations.

19And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,

20so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

21But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

22Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

23And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.

24And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,

25I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.