The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
4 How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
mat the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold,
how they are regarded as nearthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
olike the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 pThe tongue of the nursing infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 For the chastisement1 of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment2 of qSodom,
which was roverthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.3
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
swhiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
8 tNow their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their uskin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord vgave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and he wkindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 They wandered, xblind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
that no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! yUnclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 The Lord himself6 has zscattered them;
he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
ano favor to the elders.
17 bOur eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for a nation which could not save.
18 They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our cend drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were dswifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,
was captured in their pits,
of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of eUz;
but fto you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become gdrunk and strip yourself bare.
22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;7
but hyour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 Our pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,
to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
and iwe bear their iniquities.
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our jskin is hot as an oven
with the burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
kno respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,
and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have left the city gate,
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned lto mourning.
16 The mcrown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this our heart nhas become sick,
for these things our oeyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
19 pBut you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
20 Why do you qforget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 rRestore us to yourself, O Lord, sthat we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22 unless you have tutterly rejected us,
and you remain uexceedingly angry with us.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel in Babylon
1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the aexiles by the bChebar canal, cthe heavens were opened, and I dsaw evisions of God.1 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the fexile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and gthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.
The Glory of the Lord
4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were hgleaming metal.2 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of ifour living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but jeach had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like kburnished bronze. 8 lUnder their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 mtheir wings touched one another. nEach one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 oAs for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two pcovered their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit3 would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning qcoals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth rlightning. 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a swheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.4 16 As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they went, they went in any of their four directions5 without turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were tfull of eyes all around. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures6 was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 uOver the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an vexpanse, shining like awe-inspiring wcrystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the xsound of their wings ylike the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance zlike sapphire;7 and aseated above the likeness of a throne was ba likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were cgleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.8 28 dLike the appearance of the ebow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, fI fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel’s Call
2 And he said to me, “Son of man,1 gstand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, hthe Spirit entered into me and iset me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. jThey and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And kwhether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a lrebellious house) mthey will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, nbe not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions.2 Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.
8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and oeat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth pas sweet as honey.
4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, qif I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a rhard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 Behold, sI have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 tLike emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. uFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. 11 And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ vwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”
12 Then wthe Spirit1 lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice2 of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the xglory of the Lord from its place!” 13 It was the ysound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the zwheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, athe hand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling bby the Chebar canal, and I csat where they were dwelling.3 And I sat there overwhelmed among them dseven days.
A Watchman for Israel
16 And eat the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 f“Son of man, I have made you a gwatchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall hdie for4 his iniquity, ibut his blood I will jrequire at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, kif a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a lstumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”
22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley,5 and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, mlike the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and nI fell on my face. 24 But othe Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. 25 And you, O son of man, behold, pcords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be qmute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ rHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, slet him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
