Category: Ezekiel

The priest Ezekiel was among the Judeans that Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon in 597 BC. Five years into this exile, God called Ezekiel to go to Israel (both those in Babylon and those back in Judea) and

speak my words to them.

Ezekiel often brought this message by composing finely polished poetic oracles and speaking (or perhaps singing) them in public. But he also told stories with symbolic meanings, performed symbolic actions, and described extraordinary visions that he had received.

The book of Ezekiel organizes these messages into three main parts: oracles of judgment against Israel, oracles against other nations, and then promises of Israel’s restoration. These divisions are marked by references to the prophet losing and then regaining his ability to speak. A key vision near the beginning describes how God removed his presence from the Jerusalem temple because of Israel’s evil. The oracles against the nations make it clear that though God’s temple was destroyed, no one should conclude that God is not still in control of the world. Those who threaten his people will be defeated in the end. The book’s closing promises confirm that God will renew the hearts of his people and refresh all life on the face of the earth. Ezekiel’s visions fit the ongoing drama of the Bible: a broken world will be healed when the

Lord

returns to live with his people in a land that has become like the garden of Eden.

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision

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

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

3 the word of theLordcame to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.There the hand of theLordwas on him.

4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,

5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human,

6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.

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

9 and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

11 Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body.

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

13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.

14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

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

16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.

17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went.

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

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

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

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

22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome.

23 Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body.

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

25 Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.

26 Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.

27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.

28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of theLord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/1-8e800efb5a00bba8cf45d7aa08f25406.mp3?version_id=111—

Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet

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

2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.

4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the SovereignLordsays.’

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

6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.

7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,

10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/2-b69a91624ac05cf435e84bf738c974b2.mp3?version_id=111—

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.”

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

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

4 He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.

5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel—

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

7 But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.

8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.

9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”

10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.

11 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the SovereignLordsays,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of theLordrose from the place where it was standing.

13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.

14 The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of theLordon me.

15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

16 At the end of seven days the word of theLordcame to me:

17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.

18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die fortheir sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.

19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.

21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

22 The hand of theLordwas on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.”

23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of theLordwas standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.

24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

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

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

27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the SovereignLordsays.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/3-4b453c6fff735adad98f769fb323a9ac.mp3?version_id=111—

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.

3 Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.

4 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.

5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

6 “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.

7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her.

8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.

9 “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.

10 Weigh out twenty shekelsof food to eat each day and eat it at set times.

11 Also measure out a sixth of a hinof water and drink it at set times.

12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.”

13 TheLordsaid, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”

14 Then I said, “Not so, SovereignLord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.”

15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,

17 for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because oftheir sin.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/4-d6e8599f28865541a03f36e7ff9968d5.mp3?version_id=111—

God’s Razor of Judgment

1 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.

2 When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.

3 But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.

4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.

5 “This is what the SovereignLordsays: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.

7 “Therefore this is what the SovereignLordsays: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not evenconformed to the standards of the nations around you.

8 “Therefore this is what the SovereignLordsays: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations.

9 Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.

10 Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.

11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the SovereignLord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.

12 A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.

13 “Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I theLordhave spoken in my zeal.

14 “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.

15 You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I theLordhave spoken.

16 When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.

17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I theLordhave spoken.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/5-4e6d93eedc627bcbe32009130902f644.mp3?version_id=111—

Doom for the Mountains of Israel

1 The word of theLordcame to me:

2 “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them

3 and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the SovereignLord. This is what the SovereignLordsays to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

4 Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols.

5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

6 Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out.

7 Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am theLord.

8 “ ‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.

9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices.

10 And they will know that I am theLord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.

11 “ ‘This is what the SovereignLordsays: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague.

12 One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them.

13 And they will know that I am theLord, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak—places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.

14 And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah—wherever they live. Then they will know that I am theLord.’ ”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/6-1bc130544e27907b17d21dcaf4dd8a9f.mp3?version_id=111—

The End Has Come

1 The word of theLordcame to me:

2 “Son of man, this is what the SovereignLordsays to the land of Israel:

“ ‘The end! The end has come

upon the four corners of the land!

3 The end is now upon you,

and I will unleash my anger against you.

I will judge you according to your conduct

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

4 I will not look on you with pity;

I will not spare you.

I will surely repay you for your conduct

and for the detestable practices among you.

“ ‘Then you will know that I am theLord.’

5 “This is what the SovereignLordsays:

“ ‘Disaster! Unheard-ofdisaster!

See, it comes!

6 The end has come!

The end has come!

It has roused itself against you.

See, it comes!

7 Doom has come upon you,

upon you who dwell in the land.

The time has come! The day is near!

There is panic, not joy, on the mountains.

8 I am about to pour out my wrath on you

and spend my anger against you.

I will judge you according to your conduct

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

9 I will not look on you with pity;

I will not spare you.

I will repay you for your conduct

and for the detestable practices among you.

“ ‘Then you will know that it is I theLordwho strikes you.

10 “ ‘See, the day!

See, it comes!

Doom has burst forth,

the rod has budded,

arrogance has blossomed!

11 Violence has arisen,

a rod to punish the wicked.

None of the people will be left,

none of that crowd—

none of their wealth,

nothing of value.

12 The time has come!

The day has arrived!

Let not the buyer rejoice

nor the seller grieve,

for my wrath is on the whole crowd.

13 The seller will not recover

the property that was sold—

as long as both buyer and seller live.

For the vision concerning the whole crowd

will not be reversed.

Because of their sins, not one of them

will preserve their life.

14 “ ‘They have blown the trumpet,

they have made all things ready,

but no one will go into battle,

for my wrath is on the whole crowd.

15 Outside is the sword;

inside are plague and famine.

Those in the country

will die by the sword;

those in the city

will be devoured by famine and plague.

16 The fugitives who escape

will flee to the mountains.

Like doves of the valleys,

they will all moan,

each for their own sins.

17 Every hand will go limp;

every leg will be wet with urine.

18 They will put on sackcloth

and be clothed with terror.

Every face will be covered with shame,

and every head will be shaved.

19 “ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets,

and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.

Their silver and gold

will not be able to deliver them

in the day of theLord’s wrath.

It will not satisfy their hunger

or fill their stomachs,

for it has caused them to stumble into sin.

20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry

and used it to make their detestable idols.

They made it into vile images;

therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.

21 I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners

and as loot to the wicked of the earth,

who will defile it.

22 I will turn my face away from the people,

and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.

They will enter it

and will defile it.

23 “ ‘Prepare chains!

For the land is full of bloodshed,

and the city is full of violence.

24 I will bring the most wicked of nations

to take possession of their houses.

I will put an end to the pride of the mighty,

and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

25 When terror comes,

they will seek peace in vain.

26 Calamity upon calamity will come,

and rumor upon rumor.

They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,

priestly instruction in the law will cease,

the counsel of the elders will come to an end.

27 The king will mourn,

the prince will be clothed with despair,

and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.

I will deal with them according to their conduct,

and by their own standards I will judge them.

“ ‘Then they will know that I am theLord.’ ”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/7-ce04a00978d33baf04b1e8b482acfc3d.mp3?version_id=111—

Idolatry in the Temple

1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the SovereignLordcame on me there.

2 I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.

3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood.

4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.

6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall.

8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.

9 And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.”

10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel.

11 In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘TheLorddoes not see us; theLordhas forsaken the land.’ ”

13 Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”

14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of theLord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz.

15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”

16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of theLord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of theLordand their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.

17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose!

18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/8-9d996c03bfaf1a4c40346a4edc3c42e3.mp3?version_id=111—

Judgment on the Idolaters

1 Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.”

2 And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then theLordcalled to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side

4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

5 As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion.

6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.

7 Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

8 While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, SovereignLord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

9 He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘TheLordhas forsaken the land; theLorddoes not see.’

10 So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”

11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/EZK/9-66487e6246cc388081bd53baac09071b.mp3?version_id=111—