Ezekiel 9–12

Chapter 9

¹And he cried in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Draw near, ye that have charge of the city, and every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. ²And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which is turned toward the north, and every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and in the midst of them, one man clothed with linen, with a writer’s ink-horn by his side; and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. ³And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s ink-horn by his side; ⁴and Jehovah said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.

⁵And to the others he said in my hearing, Go after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have pity. ⁶Slay utterly the old man, the young man, and the maiden, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the elders who were before the house. ⁷And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city. ⁸And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the remnant of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? ⁹And he said unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness; for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and Jehovah seeth not. ¹⁰And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense their way upon their head. ¹¹And behold, the man clothed with linen, who had the ink-horn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Chapter 10

¹And I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. ²And he spoke unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Come in between the wheels, under the cherub, and fill the hollow of thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. ³And the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. ⁴And the glory of Jehovah mounted up from the cherub, and came over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Jehovah’s glory. ⁵And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty •God when he speaketh. ⁶And it came to pass when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim, then he went in, and stood beside the wheel. ⁷And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen; who took it, and went out.

⁸And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings. ⁹And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was as the look of a chrysolite stone. ¹⁰And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel. ¹¹When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it: they turned not as they went. ¹²And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about, in them four and their wheels. ¹³As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, Galgal. ¹⁴And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. ¹⁵And the cherubim mounted up. This was the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. ¹⁷When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them. ¹⁸And the glory of Jehovah departed from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight, when they went out; and the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. ²⁰This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹Each one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. ²²And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I had seen by the river Chebar—their appearance and themselves: they went every one straight before them.

Chapter 11

¹And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Jehovah’s house, which looketh eastward; and behold, at the door of the gate were five and twenty men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ²And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity, and give wicked counsel in this city: ³who say, It is not the time to build houses: this is the cauldron, and we are the flesh. ⁴Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man. ⁵And the Spirit of Jehovah fell on me, and said unto me, Speak, Thus saith Jehovah: Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; and the things that come into your mind, I know them. ⁶Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. ⁷Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and it is the cauldron; but you will I bring forth out of the midst of it. ⁸Ye have feared the sword, and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah. ⁹And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. ¹⁰Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the borders of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ¹¹This shall not be your cauldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst of it: I will judge you in the borders of Israel; ¹²and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, in whose statutes ye have not walked, neither have done mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you. ¹³And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. And I fell down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

¹⁴And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ¹⁵Son of man, it is thy brethren, thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel, the whole of it, unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem say, Get you far from Jehovah: unto us is this land given for a possession. ¹⁶Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Although I have removed them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come. ¹⁷Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will even gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. ¹⁸And they shall come thither, and they shall take away from thence all its detestable things and all its abominations. ¹⁹And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; ²⁰that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹But as for them whose heart walketh well-pleased with their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²²And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. ²³And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. ²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity; and the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵And I spoke unto them of the captivity all the things that Jehovah had shewn me.

Chapter 12

¹And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ²Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not, which have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house. ³And thou, son of man, prepare thee a captive’s baggage, and go captive by day in their sight; and thou shalt go captive from thy place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴And bring forth thy baggage by day in their sight, as a captive’s baggage, and thou thyself, go forth at even in their sight as they that go forth into captivity. ⁵Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. ⁶In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark;…