Ezekiel 9–12

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 4}And 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 7}And 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 10}And 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 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…