Ezekiel 10–12

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.

The Announcement of the Imminent Coming of the Exile

12And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{a 2}“Son of man,^b you are dwelling in the midst of the house of rebellion who has eyes to see and they do not see;^c they have ears to hear,^d and they do not hear, for they are a house of rebellion. ³And you, son of man,^e prepare for yourself^f the baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go into^g exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they are a house of rebellion. ⁴And you must bring out your baggage like the baggage of an exile by day before their eyes, and you must go out in the evening before their eyes like those who go into exile.^{h 5}Before their eyes dig through for yourself,ⁱ through the wall, and you must bring the baggage out through it. ⁶Before their eyes, on your^j shoulder, you must lift up the baggage in the dusk, and your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you as a sign to the house of Israel.” ⁷And I did just as^k I was commanded; my baggage, like the baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself^l into^m the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought the baggage on my shoulder; I carried it before their eyes. ⁸And the word of Yahweh came to me in the morning, saying,^{n 9}“Son of man,^o did not they, the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, say to you, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and the entire^p house of Israel who are among them.” ’^{q 11}Say, ‘I am your sign, and just as^r I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into^s captivity they will go.’ ¹²And the prince who is in the midst of them, on his shoulder he will carry the baggage in the dusk, and^t he will go out; the wall will be dug through^u to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he will^v not see the land with his^w eye. ¹³And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. ¹⁴And all who are around him, his help^x and all of his troops I will scatter in every direction,^y and I will draw^z the sword behind them. ¹⁵And they will know that I am Yahweh when I scatter them^a among the nations and I scatter them in the countries. ¹⁶But^b I will spare from them a few men^c from the sword, from the famine and from the plague, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will go, and they…