Study Desk

He said to me: "Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll,^(a) then go and speak to the house of Israel."

So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

"Son of man," He said to me, "eat^[a] and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you." So I ate it,^(b) and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.^(c)

Then He said to me: "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language but to the house of Israel.

You are not being sent to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. No doubt, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.^(d)

But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to Me.^(e) For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.

Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.^(f)

I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don't be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, even though they are a rebellious house."

Next He said to me: "Son of man, listen carefully to all My words that I speak to you and take them to heart.

Go to your people, the exiles, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,' whether they listen or refuse to listen."^(g)

The Spirit then lifted me up,^(h) and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me—praise the glory of the Lord in His place!—

with the^[b] sound of the living creatures' wings brushing against each other⁽ⁱ⁾ and the sound of the wheels beside them,^(j) a great rumbling sound.

So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I left in bitterness and in an angry spirit, and the Lord 's hand was on me powerfully.^(k)

I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were living by the Chebar Canal, and I sat there among them stunned for seven days.^(l)

Now at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^(m)

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel.⁽ⁿ⁾ When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.^(o)

If I say to the wicked person,^(p) ‘You will surely die,' but you do not warn him—you don't speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.^(q)

Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity,^(r) and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die.^(s) If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

But if you warn the righteous person that he should not sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he listened to your warning, and you will have saved your life."

Then the hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, "Get up, go out to the plain,^(t) and I will speak with you there."^(u)

So I got up and went out to the plain. The Lord 's glory was present there,^(v) like the glory I had seen by the Chebar Canal,^(w) and I fell facedown.

The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet.^(x) He spoke with me and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your house.

And you, son of man, they will put ropes on you^(y) and bind you with them so you cannot go out among them.

I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth,^(z) and you will be mute^(aa) and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house.

But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth,^(ab) and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.' Let the one who listens, listen, and let the one who refuses, refuse—for they are a rebellious house.

"Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

Then lay siege against it:^(a) construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides.

Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.^(b)

"Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity^[a] of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.

For I have assigned you the years of their iniquity according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.^(c)

When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.

You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.^(d)

"Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days.

The food you eat each day will be eight ounces^[b] by weight; you will eat it from time to time.^[c]

You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon,^[d] which you will drink from time to time.

You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight."

The Lord said, "This is how the Israelites will eat their bread—ceremonially unclean—among the nations where I will banish them."^(e)

But I said, "Oh, Lord God , I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts.^(f) And impure meat has never entered my mouth."^(g)

He replied to me, "Look, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you can make your bread over that."

Then He said to me, "Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem.^(h) They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure.⁽ⁱ⁾

So they will lack bread and water; everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.^(j)

"Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword,^(a) use it as you would a barber's razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

You are to burn up a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended;^(b) you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, for I will draw a sword to chase after them.

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

Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it.^(d) A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.

"This is what the Lord God says: I have set this Jerusalem in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

But she has rebelled against My ordinances with more wickedness than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that surround her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.

"Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have been more insubordinate than the nations around you^(e)—you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances; you have not even kept the ordinances of the nations around you—

therefore, this is what the Lord God says: See, I am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments within you in the sight of the nations.

Because of all your detestable practices, I will do to you what I have never done before and what I will never do again.^(f)

As a result, fathers will eat their sons^(g) within Jerusalem,^[a] and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your survivors to every direction of the wind.

"Therefore, as I live"—this is the declaration of the Lord God —"I am going to cut you off and show you no pity, because you have defiled My sanctuary^(h) with all your detestable practices and abominations.⁽ⁱ⁾ Yes, I will not spare you.

A third of your people will die by plague and be consumed by famine within you;^(j) a third will fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter a third to every direction of the wind, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.^(k)

When My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath on them, I will be appeased.^(l) Then after I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in My jealousy.^(m)

"I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.

So you^[b] will be a disgrace and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger,⁽ⁿ⁾ wrath, and furious rebukes. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

When I shoot deadly arrows of famine at them, arrows for destruction that I will send to destroy you, inhabitants of Jerusalem, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of bread.

I will send famine and dangerous animals against you. They will leave you childless, Jerusalem. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, Yahweh, have spoken."^(o)

The word of the Lord came to me:

"Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel^(a) and prophesy against them.

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

Your altars will be desolated and your incense altars smashed. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.

I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.

Wherever you live the cities will be in ruins and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will lie in ruins and be desecrated,^[a] your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.

The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.

"Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, for throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword.^(c)

Then your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they are taken captive,^(d) how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from Me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols.^(e) They will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did,^(f) their detestable practices of every kind.

And they will know that I am the Lord ; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.

"This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet,^(g) and cry out over all the evil and detestable practices of the house of Israel, who will fall by the sword, famine, and plague.^(h)

The one who is far off will die by plague; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared^[b] will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust My wrath on them.⁽ⁱ⁾

You will all know that I am Yahweh when their slain lie among their idols around their altars,^(j) on every high hill,^(k) on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak—the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols.

I will stretch out My hand against them,^(l) and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah.^[c] Then they will know that I am Yahweh."

And the word of the Lord came to me:

"Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come on the four corners of the land.^(a)

The end is now upon you; I will send My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you,^(b) but I will punish you for your ways^(c) and for your detestable practices within you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh."^(d)

This is what the Lord God says: Look, one disaster after another is coming!^(e)

An end has come; the end has come! It has awakened against you. Look, it is coming!

Doom^[a] has come on you,^(f) inhabitants of the land. The time has come; the day is near. There will be panic on the mountains and not celebration.^(g)

I will pour out My wrath on you very soon;^(h) I will exhaust My anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you. I will punish you for your ways and for your detestable practices within you. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who strikes.

Look, the day is coming! Doom has gone out.⁽ⁱ⁾ The rod has blossomed;^(j) arrogance has bloomed.^(k)

Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.^(l) None of them will remain: none of their multitude, none of their wealth, and none of the eminent^[b] among them.

The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice^(m) and the seller not mourn, for wrath is on all her masses.⁽ⁿ⁾

The seller will certainly not return to what was sold as long as he and the buyer remain alive.^[c] For the vision concerning all its people will not be revoked, and none of them will preserve his life because of his iniquity.

They have blown the trumpet^(o) and prepared everything, but no one goes to war, for My wrath is on all her masses.

The sword is on the outside;^(p) plague and famine are on the inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and plague will devour whoever is in the city.

The survivors among them will escape^(q) and live on the mountains like doves of the valley, all of them moaning, each over his own iniquity.

All their hands will become weak,^(r) and all their knees will turn to water.

They will put on sackcloth, and horror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be bald.^(s)

They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem like something filthy.^(t) Their silver and gold will be unable to save them in the day of the Lord 's wrath.^(u) They will not satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, for these were the stumbling blocks^(v) that brought about their iniquity.

He appointed His beautiful ornaments for majesty, but^[d] they made their abhorrent images from them, their detestable things.^(w) Therefore, I have made these into something filthy for them.

I will hand these things over to foreigners as plunder^(x) and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane them.

I will turn My face from the wicked as they profane My treasured place. Violent men will enter it and profane it.

Forge the chain,^(y) for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed, and the city is filled with violence.^(z)

So I will bring the most evil of nations^(aa) to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their sacred places will be profaned.^(ab)

Anguish is coming! They will seek peace, but there will be none.

Disaster after disaster will come,^(ac) and there will be rumor after rumor.^(ad) Then they will seek a vision from a prophet,^(ae) but instruction will perish from the priests and counsel from the elders.^(af)

The king will mourn; the prince will be clothed in grief; and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their own conduct, and I will judge them by their own standards.^(ag) Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me,^(a) and there the hand of the Lord God came down on me.^(b)

I looked, and there was a form that had the appearance of a man.^[a] From what seemed to be His waist down was fire, and from His waist up was something that looked bright,^(c) like the gleam of amber.^(d)

He stretched out what appeared to be 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^(e) to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the offensive statue that provokes jealousy^(f) was located.

I saw the glory of the God of Israel^(g) there, like the vision I had seen in the plain.^(h)

The Lord said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." I looked to the north, and there was this offensive statue north of the altar gate, at the entrance.

He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing here, more detestable things that the house of Israel is committing,⁽ⁱ⁾ so that I must depart from My sanctuary? You will see even more detestable things."

Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked there was a hole in the wall.

He said to me, "Son of man, dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and there was a doorway.

He said to me, "Go in and see the terrible and detestable things they are committing here."

I went in and looked, and there engraved all around the wall was every form of detestable thing, crawling creatures and beasts, as well as all the idols of the house of Israel.^(j)

Seventy elders from the house of Israel were standing before them, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan^(k) standing among them. Each had a firepan in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising up.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.'"^(l)

Again He said to me, "You will see even more detestable things, which they are committing."

So He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord 's house, and I saw women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see even more detestable things than these."

So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord 's house, and there were about 25 men at the entrance of the Lord 's temple, between the portico and the altar,^(m) with their backs to the Lord 's temple and their faces turned to the east.⁽ⁿ⁾ They were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.^(o)

And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the detestable things they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence^(p) and repeatedly provoke Me to anger,^(q) even putting the branch to their nose?^[b][c]

Therefore I will respond with wrath.^(r) I will not show pity or spare them.^(s) Though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice,^(t) I will not listen to them."