Ezekiel 10–12

CHAPTER 10

Vision of Yahweh’s Glory Departing the Temple

¹Then I looked, and behold, in the ^1aexpanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a ^bsapphire stone, in appearance in the likeness of a ^cthrone, appeared above them.

²And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the ^awhirling wheels under the ¹cherubim and fill your hands with ^bcoals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

³Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ^ainner court.

⁴Then the ^aglory of Yahweh rose up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the ^bhouse was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the ^cbrightness of the glory of Yahweh.

⁵Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the ^avoice of ¹God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶Now it happened that when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel.

⁷Then the cherub sent forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some up, and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

⁸And the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹Then I looked, and behold, ^afour wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a ^1bTarshish stone.

¹⁰As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel.

¹¹As they went, they went ^ain any of their four ¹directions without turning as they went; but they went in the direction which ²they faced, without turning as they went.

¹²And their ^awhole body, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the ^bwheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.

¹³The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels.

¹⁴And ^aeach one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵Then the cherubim rose up. They are the ^aliving creatures that I saw by the river Chebar.

¹⁶Now as the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them.

¹⁷When ¹the cherubim ^astood still, ²the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, ³the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of Yahweh departed from the threshold of the house and stood ^aover the cherubim.

¹⁹When ^athe cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the house of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them.

²⁰These are the ^aliving creatures that I saw beneath the God of Israel by ^bthe river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.

^21aEach one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the likeness of human hands.

²²As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.

CHAPTER 11

Judgment on Evil Counselors

¹Moreover, the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of Yahweh which faced eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate, there were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^bPelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people.

²He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wickedness and ^agive evil counsel in this city,

³who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ¹This ^acity is the pot, and we are the flesh.’

⁴“Therefore, ^aprophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

⁵Then the Spirit of Yahweh fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “So you say, house of Israel, for ^aI know what comes up in your ^bspirit.

⁶“You have ^amultiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with ¹them.”

⁷‘Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Your ^aslain whom you have laid in the midst of ¹the city are the flesh, and this city is the pot; but ²I will ^bbring you out of it.

⁸“You have ^afeared a sword; so a sword I will ^bbring upon you,” Lord Yahweh declares.

⁹“And I will bring you out of the midst of ¹the city and give you into the hands of ^astrangers and ^bexecute judgments against you.

¹⁰“You will ^afall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^bborder of Israel; so you shall know that I am Yahweh.

¹¹“This city will ^anot be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel.

¹²“Thus you will know that I am Yahweh; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you ^aexecuted My judgments, but have executed according to the judgments of the ^bnations around you.” ’ ”

¹³Now it happened as I prophesied, that ^aPelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “^bAlas, Lord Yahweh! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to complete destruction?”

Yahweh Will Gather the Exiles

¹⁴Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

¹⁵“Son of man, your brothers, your ¹relatives, ²your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from Yahweh; this land has been given to ^aus as a possession.’

¹⁶“Therefore say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^asanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.” ’

¹⁷“Therefore say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will ^agather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’

¹⁸“When they come there, they will ^aremove all its ^bdetestable things and all its abominations from it.

¹⁹“And I will ^agive them one heart and give within ¹them a new spirit. And I will take the ^bheart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^cheart of flesh,

²⁰that they may ^awalk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. Then they will be ^bMy people, and I shall be their God.

²¹“¹But as for those whose hearts walk after their ^adetestable things and abominations, I will ^bgive what is due for their way on their heads,” declares Lord Yahweh.

The Glory of Yahweh Leaves Jerusalem

²²Then the cherubim ^alifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^bthe glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them.

²³The ^aglory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city and ^bstood over the mountain which is east of the city.

²⁴Now the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in ¹Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^bwent up and away from me.

²⁵Then I ^atold the exiles all the things that Yahweh had shown me.

CHAPTER 12

The Vision of Captivity

¹Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, you live in the ^amidst of the ^brebellious house, who ^chave eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

³“Now as for you, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. ^aPerhaps they will see, though they are a rebellious house.

⁴“Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out ^aat evening in their sight, as those going into exile.

⁵“In their sight, dig a hole through the wall and ¹go out through it.

⁶“In their sight, carry the baggage on your shoulder and bring it out in the dark. You shall ^acover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a ^bwondrous sign to the house of Israel.”

⁷I ^adid so, as I had been commanded. By day I ^bbrought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸And in the morning the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

⁹“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the ^arebellious house, said to you, ‘^bWhat are you doing?’

¹⁰“Say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “This ^1aoracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are ²in it.” ’

¹¹“Say, ‘I am ¹a ^awondrous sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will ^bgo into exile, into captivity.’

¹²“The ^aprince who is among them will carry his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. ¹They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.

¹³“I will also spread My ^anet over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will ^bnot see it, though he will die there.

¹⁴“And I will ^ascatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them.

¹⁵“So they will ^aknow that I am Yahweh when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries.

¹⁶“But I will ¹spare a few of them from ^asword, famine, and pestilence that they may recount all their abominations among the nations where they go, and ²may ^bknow that I am Yahweh.”

¹⁷Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

¹⁸“Son of man, ^ayou shall eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.

¹⁹“Then you will say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with desolation because ¹their very soil will be ^amade desolate of its fullness on account of the violence of all who inhabit it.

²⁰“The inhabited ^a…