Ezekiel 10–12

GOD’S GLORY LEAVES THE TEMPLE

10Then I looked, and there above the expanse over the heads^w of the cherubim was something like a throne with the appearance of lapis lazuli. ²The Lord spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with blazing coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.”^x So he went in as I watched.

³Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud^y filled the inner court.^{z 4}Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherub to the threshold of the temple.^aa The temple was filled with the cloud,^ab and the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.^{ac 5}The sound of the cherubim’s wings could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶After the Lord commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from inside the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷Then the cherub reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took some and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸The cherubim appeared to have the form of human hands under their wings.^ad

⁹I looked, and there were four wheels beside the cherubim,^ae one wheel beside each cherub. The luster of the wheels was like the gleam of beryl.^{af 10}In appearance, all four looked alike, like a wheel within a wheel. ¹¹When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions,^ag without pivoting as they moved. But wherever the head faced, they would go in that direction, without pivoting as they went. ¹²Their entire bodies,^ah including their backs, hands, wings, and the wheels that the four of them had, were full of eyes all around.^{ai 13}As I listened the wheels were called “the wheelwork.” ¹⁴Each one had four faces:^aj one was the face of a cherub, the second the face of a human, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵The cherubim ascended; these were the living creatures I had seen by the Chebar Canal.^{a 16}When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when they lifted their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not veer away from them. ¹⁷When the cherubim stopped,^b the wheels stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple^c and stopped above the cherubim.^{d 19}The cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth right before my eyes;^e the wheels were beside them as they went. The glory of the God of Israel was above them, and it stopped at the entrance to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house.

²⁰These were the living creatures I had seen^f beneath the God of Israel by the Chebar Canal,^g and I recognized that they were cherubim. ²¹Each had four faces and each had four wings,^h with what looked something like human hands under their wings. ²²Their faces looked like the same faces I had seenⁱ by the Chebar Canal. Each creature went straight ahead.

VISION OF ISRAEL’S CORRUPT LEADERS

11The Spirit then lifted me up^j and brought me to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, which faces east, and at the gate’s entrance were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ²The Lord^A said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil^k and give wicked advice in this city. ³They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses?^Bl The city is the pot,^m and we are the meat.’ ⁴Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man!”

⁵Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me, “You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind.^{n 6}You have multiplied your slain in this city,^o filling its streets with them.

⁷“ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: The slain you have put within it are the meat,^p and the city is the pot, but I^A will take you out of it.^{q 8}You fear the sword,^r so I will bring the sword against you.^s This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners; I will execute judgments against you.^{t 10}You will fall by the sword,^u and I will judge you at the border of Israel.^v Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹The city will not be a pot for you,^w and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ¹²so you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’ ”^x

¹³Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died.^y Then I fell facedown and cried out loudly, “Oh, Lord God!^z You are bringing the remnant of Israel to an end!”

PROMISE OF ISRAEL’S RESTORATION

¹⁴The word of the Lord came to me again: ¹⁵“Son of man, your own relatives, those who have the right to redeem your property,^BC along with the entire house of Israel—all of them—are those to whom the residents of Jerusalem have said, ‘You are far from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

¹⁶“Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Though 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^aa in the countries where they have gone.’

¹⁷“Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the peoples^ab and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’

¹⁸“When they arrive there, they will remove all its^ac abhorrent acts^ad and detestable practices from it. ¹⁹I will give them integrity of^D heart^ae and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone^af from their bodies^E and give them a heart of flesh,^{ag 20}so that they will follow my statutes,^ah keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.^{ai 21}But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for abhorrent acts and detestable practices, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.”^aj This is the declaration of the Lord God.

GOD’S GLORY LEAVES JERUSALEM

²²Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings,^ak and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. ²³The glory of the Lord^a rose up from within the city and stopped on the mountain^b east of the city.^{Fc 24}The Spirit lifted me up^d and brought me to Chaldea and to the exiles in a vision from the Spirit of God. After the vision I had seen left me, ²⁵I spoke to the exiles about all the things the Lord had shown me.

EZEKIEL DRAMATIZES THE EXILE

12The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious house.^e They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear,^f for they are a rebellious house.^g

³“Now you, son of man, get your bags ready for exile and go into exile in their sight during the day. You will go into exile from your place to another place while they watch; perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴During the day, bring out your bags like an exile’s bags while they look on. Then in the evening go out in their sight like those going into exile. ⁵As they watch, dig through the wall and take the bags out through it. ⁶And while they look on, lift the bags to your shoulder and take them out in the dark; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”^h

⁷So I did just as I was commanded. In the daytime I brought out my bags like an exile’s bags. In the evening I dug through the wall by hand; I took them out in the dark, carrying them on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, that rebellious house,ⁱ asked you, ‘What are you doing?’^{j 10}Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: This pronouncement concerns the prince^A in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel living there.’^{B 11}You are to say, ‘I am a sign for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile,^k into captivity.’ ¹²The prince who is among^l them will lift his bags to his shoulder in the dark and go out. They^C will dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³But I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it,^m and he will die there. ¹⁴I will also scatter all the attendants who surround him and all his troops to every direction of the wind,ⁿ and I will draw a sword to chase after them. ¹⁵They will know that I am the Lord^o when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.^{p 16}But I will spare a few of them from the sword,^q famine, and plague, so that among the nations where they go they can tell about all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

EZEKIEL DRAMATIZES ISRAEL’S ANXIETY

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸“Son of man, eat your bread with^r trembling and drink your water with anxious shaking. ¹⁹Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the Lord God says about the residents of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their^DE land will be stripped of everything^s in it because of the violence of all who live there. ²⁰The inhabited cities will be destroyed, and the land will become dreadful. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

A DECEPTIVE PROVERB STOPPED

²¹Again the word of the Lord came to me: ²²“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel,^t which goes, ‘The days keep passing by,^u and every…