Ezekiel 9–12

Chapter 9

¹Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” ²And lo, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, every man with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherubim on which it rested to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side. ⁴And the Lord said to him, “Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” ⁵And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and smite; your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity; ⁶slay old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one upon whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. ⁷Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth.” So they went forth, and smote in the city. ⁸And while they were smiting, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all that remains of Israel in the outpouring of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?”

⁹Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will requite their deeds upon their heads.”

¹¹And lo, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his side, brought back word, saying, “I have done as thou didst command me.”

Chapter 10

¹Then I looked, and behold, on the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in form resembling a throne. ²And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”

And he went in before my eyes. ³Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in; and a cloud filled the inner court. ⁴And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherubim to the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings.

⁹And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling chrysolite. ¹⁰And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ¹¹When they went, they went in any of their four directions^g without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced the others followed without turning as they went. ¹²And^h their rims, and their spokes,ⁱ and the wheels were full of eyes round about—the wheels that the four of them had. ¹³As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels. ¹⁴And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. ¹⁷When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living creatures^j was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight as they went forth, with the wheels beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the house of the Lord; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

²⁰These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the semblance of human hands. ²²And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the very faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. They went every one straight forward.

Chapter 11

¹The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the door of the gateway there were twenty-five men; and I saw among them Ja-azaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ²And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; ³who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.’ ⁴Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.”

⁵And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. ⁷Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but you shall be brought forth out of the midst of it. ⁸You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord GOD. ⁹And I will bring you forth out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. ¹⁰You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the flesh in the midst of it; I will judge you at the border of Israel; ¹²and you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in my statutes, nor executed my ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.”

¹³And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

¹⁴And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵“Son of man, your brethren, even your brethren, your fellow exiles,^l the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while^m in the countries where they have gone.’ ¹⁷Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ ¹⁸And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. ¹⁹And I will give them oneⁿ heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹But as for those^o whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will requite their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord GOD.”

²²Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. ²³And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. ²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had showed me.

Chapter 12

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not; ³for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though^p they are a rebellious house. ⁴You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile; and you shall go forth yourself at evening in their sight, as men do who must go into exile. ⁵Dig through the wall in their sight, and go^q out through it. ⁶In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, that you may not see the land; for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.”

⁷And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I went forth in the dark, carrying my outfit upon my shoulder in their sight.

⁸In the morning…