Fall of Jerusalem

Ezekiel 1

In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles at the Kebar River, the heavens opened and I saw a divine vision. (On the fifth day of the monthit was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile— the Lord’s message came to the priest Ezekiel the son of Buzi, at the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. The hand of the Lord came on him there.)

As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north—an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like glowing amber from the middle of a fire. In the fire were what looked like four living beings. In their appearance they had human form, but each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed like polished bronze. They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead.

Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and also the face of an eagle. Their wings were spread out above them; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies. Each moved straight aheadwherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. In the middle of the living beings was something like burning coals of fire or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire. The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning.

Then I looked, and I saw one wheel on the ground beside each of the four beings. The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like gleaming jasper, and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. Their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around.

When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel. When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.

Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, glittering awesomely like ice, stretched out over their heads. Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering its body. When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings—it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Sovereign One, or the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

Then there was a voice from above the platform over their heads when they stood still. Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man. I saw an amber glow like a fire enclosed all around from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it, like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel 2

He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak with you.” As he spoke to me, a wind came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, to rebellious nations who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ And as for them, whether they listen or notfor they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions—do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house! You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. As for you, son of man, listen to what I am saying to you: Do not rebel like that rebellious house! Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

Then I looked and realized a hand was stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll. He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front and back; written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.

Ezekiel 3

He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of youeat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.

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

He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israelnot to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.

“I have made your face adamant to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. I have made your forehead harder than flint—like diamond! Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house.”

And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully. Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”

Then a wind lifted me up and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, and the sound of the living beings’ wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound. A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly, my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully on me. I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, who lived by the Kebar River. I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days.

At the end of seven days the Lord’s message came to me: “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.

“When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

The hand of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, and I will speak with you there.” So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I threw myself face down.

Then a wind came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among them. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 18

The Lord’s message came to me: “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel:

“‘The fathers eat sour grapes,

And the children’s teeth become numb?’

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! Indeed! All lives are mine—the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die.

Suppose a man is righteous. He practices what is just and right; does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains or pray to the idols of the house of Israel; does not defile his neighbor’s wife; does not approach a woman for marital relations during her period; does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge; does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked; does not engage in usury or charge interest, but refrains from wrongdoing; promotes true justice between men; and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. That man is righteous; he will certainly live, declares the Sovereign Lord.

“Suppose such a man has a violent son who sheds blood and does any of these things mentioned previously (though the father did not do any of them). He eats pagan sacrifices on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and the needy, commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to idols, performs abominable acts, engages in usury, and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. He will bear the responsibility for his own death.

“But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father’s example. He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry and clothes the naked, refrains from wrongdoing, does not engage in usury or charge interest, carries out my regulations, and follows my statutes. He will not die for his father’s iniquity; he will surely live. As for his father, because he practices extortion, robs his brother, and does what is not good among his people, he will die for his iniquity.

“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness and the wicked person according to his wickedness.

“But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live. Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the Sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

“But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.

“Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust? When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

Therefore, I will judge each person according to his conduct, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Ezekiel 33

The Lord’s message came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people, and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, and warns the people, but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’

“As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ and you do not warn the wicked about his behavior, the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, and he refuses to change, he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

“And you, son of man, say to your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness if he sins.’ Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die. Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. He returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, committing no iniquity. He will certainly live—he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be counted against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

“Yet your people say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their behavior that is not right. When a righteous man turns from his godliness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. When the wicked turns from his sin and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. Yet you say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior.”

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, a refugee came to me from Jerusalem saying, “The city has been defeated!” Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was able to speak once more. The Lord’s message came to me: “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, pray to your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess the land? You rely on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’

This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’

“But as for you, son of man, your people (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another,Come hear the word that comes from the Lord.’ They come to you in crowds, and they sit in front of you as my people. They hear your words, but do not obey them. For they talk lustfully, and their heart is set on their own advantage. Realize that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice, and skilled musician. They hear your words, but they do not obey them. When all this comes true—and it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet was among them.”

Lamentations 3

א (Alef)

I am the man who has experienced affliction

from the rod of the Lord’s wrath.

He drove me into captivity and made me walk

in darkness and not light.

He repeatedly attacks me;

he turns his hand against me all day long.

ב (Bet)

He has made my mortal skin waste away;

he has broken my bones.

He has besieged and surrounded me

with bitter hardship.

He has made me reside in deepest darkness

like those who died long ago.

ג (Gimel)

He has walled me in so that I cannot get out;

he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.

Also, when I cry out desperately for help,

he has shut out my prayer.

He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones;

he has made every path impassable.

ד (Dalet)

To me he is like a bear lying in ambush,

like a hidden lion stalking its prey.

He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces;

he has made me desolate.

He drew his bow and made me

the target for his arrow.

ה (He)

He shot his arrows

into my heart.

I have become the laughingstock of all people,

their mocking song all day long.

He has given me my fill of bitter herbs

and made me drunk with bitterness.

ו (Vav)

He ground my teeth in gravel;

he trampled me in the dust.

I am deprived of peace;

I have forgotten what happiness is.

So I said, “My endurance has expired;

I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord.”

ז (Zayin)

Remember my impoverished and homeless condition,

which is a bitter poison.

I continually think about this,

and I am depressed.

But this I call to mind;

therefore I have hope:

ח (Khet)

The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases;

his compassions never end.

They are fresh every morning;

your faithfulness is abundant!

“My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself,

so I will put my hope in him.

ט (Tet)

The Lord is good to those who trust in him,

to the one who seeks him.

It is good to wait patiently

for deliverance from the Lord.

It is good for a man

to bear the yoke while he is young.

י (Yod)

Let a person sit alone in silence,

when the Lord is disciplining him.

Let him bury his face in the dust;

perhaps there is hope.

Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him;

let him have his fill of insults.

כ (Kaf)

For the Lord will not

reject us forever.

Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.

For he is not predisposed to afflict

or to grieve people.

ל (Lamed)

To crush underfoot

all the earth’s prisoners,

to deprive a person of his rights

in the presence of the Most High,

to defraud a person in a lawsuit

the Lord does not approve of such things!

מ (Mem)

Whose command was ever fulfilled

unless the Lord decreed it?

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes

both calamity and blessing?

Why should any living person complain

when punished for his sins?

נ (Nun)

Let us carefully examine our ways,

and let us return to the Lord.

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands

to God in heaven:

We have blatantly rebelled;

you have not forgiven.”

ס (Samek)

You shrouded yourself with anger and then pursued us;

you killed without mercy.

You shrouded yourself with a cloud

so that no prayer could get through.

You make us like filthy scum

in the estimation of the nations.

פ (Pe)

All our enemies have gloated over us;

panic and pitfall have come upon us,

devastation and destruction.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes

because my people are destroyed.

ע (Ayin)

Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop;

there will be no break

until the Lord looks down from heaven

and sees what has happened.

What my eyes see grieves me

all the suffering of the daughters in my city.

צ (Tsade)

For no good reason my enemies

hunted me down like a bird.

They shut me up in a pit

and threw stones at me.

The waters closed over my head;

I thought I was about to die.

ק (Qof)

I have called on your name, O Lord,

from the deepest pit.

You heard my plea:

“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!”

You came near on the day I called to you;

you said, “Do not fear!”

ר (Resh)

O Lord, you championed my cause;

you redeemed my life.

You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;

pronounce judgment on my behalf!

You have seen all their vengeance,

all their plots against me.

ש (Sin/Shin)

You have heard their taunts, O Lord,

all their plots against me.

My assailants revile and conspire

against me all day long.

Watch them from morning to evening;

I am the object of their mocking songs.

ת (Tav)

Pay them back what they deserve, O Lord,

according to what they have done.

Give them a distraught heart;

may your curse be on them!

Pursue them in anger and eradicate them

from under the Lord’s heaven.

Obadiah 1

The vision that Obadiah saw.

The Sovereign Lord says this concerning Edom:

We have heard a report from the Lord.

An envoy was sent among the nations, saying,

Arise! Let us make war against Edom!”

The Lord says,Look! I will make you a weak nation;

you will be greatly despised!

Your presumptuous heart has deceived you—

you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs,

whose home is high in the mountains.

You think to yourself,

No one can bring me down to the ground!’

Even if you were to soar high like an eagle,

even if you were to make your nest among the stars,

I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.

If thieves came to rob you during the night,

they would steal only as much as they wanted.

If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards,

they would leave some behind for the poor.

But you will be totally destroyed!

How the people of Esau will be thoroughly plundered!

Their hidden valuables will be ransacked!

All your allies will force you from your homeland!

Your treaty partners will deceive you and overpower you.

Your trusted friends will set an ambush for you

that will take you by surprise!

“At that time,” the Lord says,

“I will destroy the wise sages of Edom,

the advisers from Esau’s mountain.

Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman,

so that everyone will be destroyed from Esau’s mountain!

“Because you violently slaughtered your relatives, the people of Jacob,

shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed forever.

You stood aloof while strangers took his army captive

and foreigners advanced to his gates.

When they cast lots over Jerusalem,

you behaved as though you were in league with them.

You should not have gloated when your relatives suffered calamity.

You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed.

You should not have boasted when they suffered adversity.

You should not have entered the city of my people when they experienced distress.

You should not have joined in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress.

You should not have looted their wealth when they endured distress.

You should not have stood at the fork in the road to slaughter those trying to escape.

You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity.

For the day of the Lord is approaching for all the nations!

Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.

You will get exactly what your deeds deserve.

For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain,

so all the nations will drink continually.

They will drink, and they will gulp down;

they will be as though they had never been.

But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape,

and it will be a holy place once again.

The descendants of Jacob will conquer

those who had conquered them.

The descendants of Jacob will be a fire

and the descendants of Joseph a flame.

The descendants of Esau will be like stubble.

They will burn them up and devour them.

There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau!”

Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.

The people of the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain,

and the people of the foothills will take

possession of the land of the Philistines.

They will also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria,

and the people of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.

The exiles of this fortress of the people of Israel

will take possession of what belongs to

the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

will take possession of the towns of the Negev.

Those who have been delivered will go up on Mount Zion

in order to rule over Esau’s mountain.

Then the Lord will reign as King!


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