Ezekiel 1-4

Ezekiel 1

¹In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.

²On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—

³the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.

⁴I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber,

⁵and within it was the form of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had a human form,

⁶but each had four faces and four wings.

⁷Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.

⁸Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four living creatures had faces and wings,

⁹and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.

¹⁰The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle.

¹¹Such were their faces. Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching the wings of the creature on either side, and two wings covering its body.

¹²Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.

¹³In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.

¹⁴The creatures were darting back and forth as quickly as flashes of lightning.

¹⁵When I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.

¹⁶The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel.

¹⁷As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved.

¹⁸Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

¹⁹So as the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.

²⁰Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²¹When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²²Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an awesome expanse, gleaming like crystal.

²³And under the expanse, their wings stretched out toward one another. Each one also had two wings covering its body.

²⁴When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.

²⁶Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man.

²⁷From what seemed to be His waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire within it all around. And from what seemed to be His waist down, I saw what looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him.

²⁸The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel 2

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.”

²And as He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me.

³“Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me.

⁴They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’

⁵And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

⁶But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.

⁷But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.

⁸And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

⁹Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll,

¹⁰which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.

Ezekiel 3

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

²So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

³“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

⁵For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—

⁶not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

⁷But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

⁸Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

⁹I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”

¹⁰“Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.

¹¹Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!”

¹³It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

¹⁵I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁷“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

¹⁸If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.

¹⁹But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.

²⁰Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

²¹But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he heeded your warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

²²And there the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

²³So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.

²⁴Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

²⁵And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes, and you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.

²⁶I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 4

¹“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.

²Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.

³Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

⁴Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.

⁵For I have assigned to you 390 days, according to the number of years of their iniquity. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

⁶When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned to you 40 days, a day for each year.

⁷You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

⁸Now behold, I will tie you up with ropes so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.

⁹But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side.

¹⁰You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.

¹¹You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times.

¹²And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”

¹³Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”

¹⁴“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”

¹⁵“Look,” He replied, “I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you may bake your bread over that.”

¹⁶Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.

¹⁷So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.