Ezekiel 10–12

Chapter 10

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from 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 resembling 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 ¹temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ^ainner court.

⁴Then the ^aglory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the ^btemple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the ^cbrightness of the glory of the Lord.

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.

⁶It came about 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 stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

⁸The 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.

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

¹²Their ^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 beings that I saw by the river Chebar.

¹⁶Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go 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, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple 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 Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them.

²⁰These are the ^aliving beings 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 form 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

Evil Rulers to Be Judged

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

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

³who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ²This ^acity is the pot and we are the flesh.’

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

⁵Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for ^aI know ¹your ^bthoughts.

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

⁷‘Therefore, thus says the Lord ¹God, “Your ^aslain whom you have laid in the midst of ²the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ³I will ^bbring you out of it.

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

⁹“And I will bring you out of the midst of ¹the city and deliver 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 the Lord.

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 the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you ^aexecuted My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the ^bnations around you.” ’ ”

¹³Now it came about 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 God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴Then the word of the Lord 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 the Lord; this land has been given ^aus as a possession.’

¹⁶“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “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 the Lord God, “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 put a new spirit within ¹them. 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 ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^bMy people, and I shall be their God.

²¹“¹But as for those whose hearts go after their ^adetestable things and abominations, I will ^bbring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.

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 the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^bstood over the mountain which is east of the city.

²⁴And the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ¹in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^2bleft me.

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

Chapter 12

Ezekiel Prepares for Exile

¹Then the word of the Lord 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“Therefore, 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 ¹understand 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“Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and ¹go out through it.

⁶“Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall ^acover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a ^bsign 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.

⁸In the morning the word of the Lord 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 the Lord ¹God, “This ^2aburden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are ³in it.” ’

¹¹“Say, ‘I am ¹a ^asign 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 load 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 can not 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“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 the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries.

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

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

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

¹⁹“Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because ¹their land will be ^2astripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it.

²⁰“The inhabited ^acities will be laid waste and the ^bland will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

²¹Then the word of the Lord came to me,…