Ezekiel 10–11

God’s Presence Leaves the Temple

10And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire,^a and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. ²And he spoke^b to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim^c and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes. ³Now^d the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple when the man went,^e and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. ⁴And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub toward^f the threshold of the house,^g and the house^h was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. ⁵And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far asⁱ the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddai^j when he speaks.^k

⁶And then at his command^l to the man clothed in linen, saying,^m “Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim,” he went and stood beside the wheel. ⁷Then the cherub stretched out his hand from amongⁿ the cherubim toward the fire that was among^o the cherubim, and he lifted up and gave^p it into the hollow of the hand of the man clothed with linen, and he took it, and he went out.

⁸And there appeared for^q the cherubim the form of a human hand^r under their wings. ⁹And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub,^s and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of turquoise stone.^{t 10}Their appearance^u was the same for each of the four of them,^v as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. ¹¹When they went^w to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went,^x for the place to which the head^y turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. ¹²And their whole body,^z and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels for the four of them.^{a 13}Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.^{b 14}And each one had four faces;^c the face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a human, and the face of the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

¹⁵And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creatures^d that I saw at the Kebar River.^{e 16}And when the cherubim went,^f the wheels beside them went; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth,^g the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. ¹⁷When they stood,^h they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. ¹⁸And the glory of Yahweh went out fromⁱ the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim. ¹⁹And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels were^j beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple^k of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.^l

²⁰This was^m the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the Kebar River,ⁿ and I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹Each one had four faces,^o and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of human hands^p was under their wings. ²²And the likeness of their faces, they were the faces that I saw at the Kebar River;^q thus was their appearance, and they each went straight ahead.^r

Judgment On Evil Rulers

11And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple^a of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people. ²And he said to me, “Son of man,^b these are the men who devise mischief,^c and who are offering bad counsel in this city, ³who are saying, ‘The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh.’ ⁴Therefore prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”^d

⁵And the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Say, ‘thus says Yahweh: “This is what you think, house of Israel, and I myself know them,^e the thoughts of your spirit. ⁶You made your slain ones numerous in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain ones.” ’^{f 7}Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Your slain ones whom you put in its midst, they are the flesh, and it is the pot, and I^g will bring you out from its midst. ⁸The sword you have feared, and the sword I will bring against you!” declares^h the Lord Yahweh. ⁹“And I will bring you out from its midst, and I will give you into the hand of strangers, and I will execute judgments against you. ¹⁰By the sword you will fall at the border of Israel; I will judge you, and you will know that I am Yahweh. ¹¹It will not be as a pot to you, and so you would beⁱ in the midst of it as flesh, for at the border of Israel I will judge you. ¹²And you will know that I am Yahweh, whose^j rules you did not follow, and whose^k regulations you did not do, but according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you acted.” ’^l

¹³And it happened that as I was prophesying,^m Pelatiahu the son of Benaiahu died! And I fell on my face, and I cried with a loud voice, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, you are making a complete destruction of the remnant of Israel!” ¹⁴And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{n 15}“Son of man,^o your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem,^p ‘They are far from Yahweh, therefore to us this land was given as a possession.’ ¹⁶Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries to which they have gone.’ ”^{q 17}Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you. ¹⁸And when they come there, then they will remove all of its vile idols and all of its detestable things from it. ¹⁹And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give^r in their inner parts. And I will remove their^s heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, ²⁰so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God. ²¹But to^t the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” declares^u the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

²²Then^v the cherubim lifted up their wings, and their^w wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.^{x 23}And the glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and it stood still on the mountain that is to the east of the city. ²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to Chaldea, to the exiles,^y in the vision by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen left me.^{z 25}And I spoke to the exiles^a all of the words of Yahweh that he had shown me.