8And then^a 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 before me.^b And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there, ²and I saw,^c and look! A figure like the appearance of a man;^d from the appearance of his waist and below was fire, and from his waist and upward^e was like the appearance of brightness,^f like the outward appearance of^g amber. ³And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate that faced north,^h at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous. ⁴And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley. ⁵And he said to me, “Son of man,ⁱ lift up now^j your eyes toward the north.”^k And I lifted up my eyes toward the north,^l and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶And he said to me, “Son of man,^m “Do you seeⁿ what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committing^o here so as to drive me from^p my sanctuary, and yet you will see again^q greater^r detestable things.” ⁷And he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I saw, and look! A hole in the wall. ⁸And he said to me, “Son of man,^s dig now^t through the wall.” And I dug through the wall, and look! There was a doorway. ⁹And he said to me, “Come and see the detestable things, the evil that they are doing^u here. ¹⁰And I came, and I saw, and look, all kinds of creatures^v and detestable beasts;^w and all of the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall all around.^x ¹¹And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing before them.^y Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up. ¹²And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man,^z what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.’ ” ¹³And he said to me, “Still you will see again^a greater detestable things that they are doing.” ¹⁴And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?^b Still you will see again^c greater detestable things than these.” ¹⁶And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun. ¹⁷And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?^d Was it too small a thing^e for the house of Judah to do^f the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and they provoked me to anger again,^g and look! They are putting the branch to their nose. ¹⁸And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them.”

Yahweh’s Avenging Messenger Destroys the Wicked in the City

9And he called in my ears with a loud voice, saying,^a “They have come near,^b the punishers of the city, and each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. ²And look! Six men coming from the way of the upper gate^c that faced northward,^d and each with his weapon for^e shattering in his hand; and one man was in the midst of them, dressed in linen, and the^f writing case of the scribe was at his side. And they came and stood beside the bronze altar. ³And the glory of the God of Israel lifted itself up from upon the cherub that he was on^g and went to the threshold of the house,^h and he called to the man who was clothed in linen with a scribal writing case at his side.ⁱ ⁴And Yahweh said to him, “Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and lamenting^j about all of the detestable things that are being done^k in the midst of her.” ⁵And to the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city behind him and kill! Your eyes shall not take pity, and you shall not have compassion. ⁶You must kill totally^l old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but concerning^m every man with the mark on himⁿ you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin.” And they began with the old men who were before^o the house.^p ⁷And he said to them, “Defile the house^q and fill the courtyards with the dead; go out! And they went out, and they killed in the city. ⁸And then^r as they were striking,^s and I was left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! “Will you be destroying all of the remnant of Israel while you pour out your rage^t on Jerusalem?” ⁹And he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly^u great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and Yahweh does not see.^v ¹⁰And I, my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion; their way I will bring on their head.” ¹¹And look! The man clothed in linen and with a writing case at his side^w was bringing back a word, saying,^x “I have done all that you commanded me.”

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 ¹⁰Their 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 ¹³Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.^b ¹⁴And 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 ¹⁶And 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…

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Ezekiel 8–11 in Logos

Footnotes

aLiterally “and it happened”
bLiterally “to the face of me”
cOr “looked”
dHebrew “fire”; but reading the BHS note 2b, “a man.”
eLiterally “to above”
fOr “shining metal”
gLiterally “eye”
hLiterally “the one facing north”
iOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
jParticle of entreaty, “please/ please now”
kLiterally “to the way of the north”
lLiterally “to the way of the north”
mOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
nLiterally “Are you seeing?”
oOr “doing”
pHebrew “from upon”
qLiterally “you will return you will see”
rOr “worse”
sOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
tOr “please”
uOr “making”
vHebrew “creature”
wHebrew “beast”
xLiterally “around around”
yLiterally “to the face of them”
zOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
aLiterally “you will return, you will see”
bOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
cLiterally “you will return, you will see”
dOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
eLiterally “was it too little”
fLiterally “from doing”
gLiterally “they returned to provoke me to anger”
aLiterally “to say”
bOr “Come near” (imperative)
cLiterally “the gate of the upper”
dLiterally “faced north + directive”
eOr “of”
fOr “his”
gHebrew “which he was on it”
hThat is, the temple
iLiterally “whom a writing case of a scribe was at his side”
jLiterally “the men the groaning and the lamenting”
kLiterally “the being done”
lLiterally “to destruction”
mLiterally “upon”
nLiterally “which is on him the mark”
oLiterally “were to the face of”
pThat is, the temple
qOr “temple”
rLiterally “and it was”
sLiterally “in their striking”
tLiterally “when pouring out your rage”
uLiterally “with very very”
vLiterally “not Yahweh is seeing
wLiterally “which/whom the writing-case was at his side”
xLiterally “to say”
aOr “lapis lazuli”
bOr “said”
cLiterally “to between to the wheel to under the cherub”
dOr “And”
eLiterally “at his coming the man”
fOr “onto”
gOr “temple”
hOr “temple”
iLiterally “up to”
jOften translated “Almighty”
kLiterally “in his speaking”
lOr “when he commanded”
mLiterally “to say”
nOr “between”
oOr “between”
pOr “placed”
qLiterally “to”
rLiterally “a hand of a man”
sLiterally “wheel one beside the cherub one, and wheel one beside the cherub one”
tLiterally “stone of turquoise”
uThat is, of the wheels
vLiterally “likeness one was for the four of them”
wLiterally “In their going”
xLiterally “At their going”
yOr “first” or “lead wheel”
zLiterally “the whole of their body”
aLiterally “for the four of them their wheels”
bLiterally “in my ears”
cLiterally “four faces were to each”
dHebrew “creature”
eLiterally “river of Kebar”
fLiterally “at the going of the cherubim”
gLiterally “and at the lifting of the cherubim wings their to rise from on the earth”
hLiterally “at their standing”
iHebrew “from on”
jHebrew “to”
kOr “house”
lLiterally “on them from to above”
mOr “these were”
nLiterally “river of Kebar”
oLiterally “four faces were for one/each”
pLiterally “hands of a man”
qLitearlly “river of Kebar”
rLiterally “to the opposite of face his”
aOr “house”
bOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
cLiterally “the ones devising mischief”
dOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
eHebrew “it”