Ezekiel 9

1 Then he cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city!
2 With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer's case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then he called to the man dressed in linen with the writer's case at his waist,
4 saying to him: Pass through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it.
5 To the others I heard him say: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy!
6 Old men, youths and maidens, women and children--wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the X; begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men (the elders) who were in front of the temple.
7 Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the city.
8 As they began to strike, I was left alone. I fell prone, crying out, Alas, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?
9 He answered me: The sins of the house of Israel are great beyond measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the LORD has forsaken the land, that he does not see them.
10 I, however, will not look upon them with pity, nor show any mercy. I will bring down their conduct upon their heads.
11 Then I saw the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his waist make his report: I have done as you ordered.

Ezekiel 10

1 I looked and saw in the firmament above the cherubim what appeared to be sapphire stone; something like a throne could be seen upon it.
2 He said to the man dressed in linen: Go within the wheelwork under the cherubim; fill both your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim, then scatter them over the city. As I looked on, he entered. The glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherubim, upon which it had been, to the threshold of the temple.
3 As the man entered, the cloud filled the inner court,
4 and the glory of the LORD rose from over the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; the temple was filled with the cloud, and all the court was bright with the glory of the LORD.
5 The noise of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God the Almighty when he speaks.
6 When he had commanded the man dressed in linen to take fire from within the wheelwork, among the cherubim, the man entered and stood by one of the wheels.
7 Thereupon its cherub stretched out his hand toward the fire that was among the cherubim. He took up some of it and put it in the hands of the one dressed in linen, who took it and came out.
8 (Something like human hands could be seen under the wings of the cherubim.)
9 I also saw four wheels beside them, one wheel beside each cherub; the wheels appeared to have the luster of chrysolite stone.
10 All four of them seemed to be made the same, as though they were a wheel within a wheel.
11 When they moved, they went in any one of their four directions without veering as they moved; for in whichever direction they were faced, they went straight toward it without veering as they moved.
12 The rims of the four wheels were full of eyes all around.
13 I heard the wheels given the name wheelwork.
14 Each had four faces: the first face was that of an ox, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.
15 Such were the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar.
16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them; when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not leave their sides.
17 When they stood still, the wheels stood still; when they rose, the wheels rose with them; for the living creatures' spirit was in them.
18 Then the glory of the LORD left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim.
19 These lifted their wings, and I saw them rise from the earth, the wheels rising along with them. They stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them.
20 these were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar, whom I now recognized to be cherubim.
21 Each had four faces and four wings; something like human hands were under their wings.
22 Their faces looked just like those I had seen by the river Chebar; each one went straight forward.

Ezekiel 11

1 Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the temple. At the entrance of the gate I saw twenty-five men, among whom were Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
2 The LORD said to me: Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city.
3 Shall we not, they say, be building houses soon? The city is the kettle, and we are the meat.
4 Therefore prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!
5 Then the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he told me to say: Thus says the LORD: This is the way you talk, house of Israel, and what you are plotting I well know.
6 You have slain many in this city and have filled its streets with your slain.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have placed within it, they are the meat, and the city is the kettle; but you I will take out of it.
8 You fear the sword, but the sword I will bring upon you, says the Lord GOD.
9 I will bring you out of the city, and hand you over to foreigners, and inflict punishments upon you.
10 By the sword you shall fall; at the boundaries of Israel I will judge you; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
11 The city shall not be a kettle for you, nor shall you be the meat within it. At the boundaries of Israel I will judge you,
12 and you shall know that I am the LORD, by whose statutes you have not lived, and whose ordinances you have not kept; rather, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.
13 While I was prophesying, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, died. I fell prone and cried out in a loud voice: Alas, Lord GOD! will you utterly wipe out what remains of Israel?
14 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
15 Son of man, it is about your kinsmen, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel that the inhabitants of Jerusalem say, They are far away from the LORD; to us the land of Israel has been given as our possession.
16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I have removed them far among the nations and scattered them over foreign countries--and was for a while their only sanctuary in the countries to which they had gone--
17 I will gather you from the nations and assemble you from the countries over which you have been scattered, and I will restore to you the land of Israel.
18 They shall return to it and remove from it all its detestable abominations.
19 I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart,
20 so that they will live according to my statutes, and observe and carry out my ordinances; thus they shall be my people and I will be their God.
21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their detestable abominations, I will bring down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.
22 Then the cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels went along with them, while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.
23 And the glory of the LORD rose from the city and took a stand on the mountain which is to the east of the city.
24 Spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Chaldea (in a vision, by God's spirit). Then the vision I had seen left me,
25 and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

Ezekiel 12

1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
2 Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
3 Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on, prepare your baggage as though for exile, and again while they are looking on, migrate from where you live to another place; perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.
4 You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime while they are looking on; in the evening, again while they are looking on, you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;
5 while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;
6 while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness; cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.
7 I did as I was told. During the day I brought out my baggage as though it were that of an exile, and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness, shouldering my burden.
8 Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:
9 Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, ask you what you were doing?
10 Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD: This oracle concerns Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel within it.
11 I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; as captives they shall go into exile.
12 The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden and set out in darkness, going through a hole that he has dug in the wall, and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.
13 But I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans--but he shall not see it--and there he shall die.
14 All his retinue, his aides, and his troops I will scatter in every direction, and pursue them with the sword.
15 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them over foreign lands.
16 Yet I will leave a few of them to escape the sword, famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will come; thus they shall know that I am the LORD.
17 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
18 Son of man, eat your bread trembling, and drink your water shaking with anxiety.
19 Then say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (to the land of Israel): They shall eat their bread in anxiety and drink their water in horror, that their land may be emptied of the violence of all its inhabitants that now fills it.
20 Inhabited cities shall be in ruins, and the land shall be a waste; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
21 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: The days drag on, and no vision ever comes to anything?
23 Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb; they shall never quote it again in Israel. Rather, say to them: The days are at hand, and also the fulfillment of every vision.
24 There shall no longer be any false visions or deceitful divinations within the house of Israel, because it is I, the LORD, who will speak.
25 Whatever I speak is final, and it shall be done without further delay. In your days, rebellious house, whatever I speak I will bring about, says the Lord GOD.
26 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
27 Son of man, listen to the house of Israel saying, The vision he sees is a long way off; he prophesies of the distant future!
28 Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words shall be delayed any longer; whatever I speak is final, and it shall be done, says the Lord GOD.