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¹Then He cried out in my presence with a loud voice, saying, “Come forward, you executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.”

²And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his smashing weapon in his hand; and among them was one man clothed in linen with a scribe’s kit at his waist. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Then the glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose waist was the scribe’s kit.

⁴And the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

⁵But to the others He said in my presence, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.

⁶Utterly kill old men, young men, female virgins, little children, and women, but do not touch any person on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.

⁷He also said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and struck and killed the people in the city.

⁸And as they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out, saying, “Oh, Lord GOD! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

⁹Then He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is full of perversion; for they say, ‘The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see!’

¹⁰But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”

¹¹Then behold, the man clothed in linen, at whose waist was the scribe’s kit, reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

¹Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them.

²And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals 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 temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner courtyard.

⁴Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

⁵Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer courtyard, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶And it 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 reached out with his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some coals and put them into the hands of the one clothed in linen; and he took them and went out.

⁸The cherubim appeared to have something like a human hand under their wings.

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

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

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

¹²And their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were covered with eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.

¹³The wheels were called, as I heard, the whirling wheels.

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

¹⁵Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar.

¹⁶Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would move beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels themselves would not turn away from beside them.

¹⁷When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, because the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.

¹⁹When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the ground 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 hovered over them.

²⁰These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.

²¹Each 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.

¹Now the Spirit 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 Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

²Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wrongdoing and give evil advice in this city,

³who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This city is the pot and we are the meat.’

⁴Therefore, prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!”

⁵Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “This is how you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.

⁶You have multiplied your slain in this city, and filled its streets with them.”

⁷Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of the city are the meat and this city is the pot; but I will bring you out of it.

⁸You have feared a sword; so I will bring a sword upon you,” the Lord GOD declares.

⁹“And I will bring you out of the midst of the city, and hand you over to strangers, and execute judgments against you.

¹⁰You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the LORD.

¹¹This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat in the midst of it; I will judge you to the border of Israel.

¹²So you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you.” ’ ”

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

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

¹⁵“Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Keep far from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

¹⁶Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.” ’

¹⁷Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’

¹⁸When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.

¹⁹And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

²⁰so that they may walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

²¹But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.

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

²³The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.

²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me.

²⁵And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

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

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

³So as for you, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; that is, go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.

⁴Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you shall go out at evening in their sight, as those who are going into exile.

⁵Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and go out through it.

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

⁷Then I did so, just as I had been commanded. By day I brought 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 the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹“Son of man, has the house of Israel, the rebellious house, not said to you, ‘What are you doing?’

¹⁰Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “This pronouncement concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.” ’

¹¹Say, ‘I am a sign to you. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’

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

¹³I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My net. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there.

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

¹⁵So they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.

¹⁶But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine, and plague so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.”

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

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

¹⁹Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it.

²⁰The inhabited cities will be in ruins, and the land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

²¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²²“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are long, and every vision fails’?

²³Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “I will put an end to this proverb so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But tell them, “The days are approaching as well as the fulfillment of every vision.

²⁴For there will no longer be any false vision or deceptive divination within the house of Israel.

²⁵For I the LORD will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, you rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord GOD.’ ”

²⁶Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁷“Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’

²⁸Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,” ’ ” declares the Lord GOD.