 CHAPTER 1 What happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Kebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoachan's captivity, the word of Yahweh came expressly to execute the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Kebar, and the hand of Yahweh was there on him. I looked and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud with washing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst, as it were going metal, out of the midst of the fire. Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. Every one had four faces, and each one of them had four wings. Their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like burnished brass. They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides, and they four had their faces and their wings thus. Their wings were joined one to another. They didn't turn when they went. Each one went straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man, and they four had the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side. They four also had the face of an eagle. Their faces and their wings were separate above. The two wings of each one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. Each one went straight forward. Where the spirit was to go, they went. They didn't turn when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire. Like the appearance of torches, the fire went up and down among the living creatures, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures. For each of the four faces of it. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a barrel, and they four had one likeness, and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions. They didn't turn when they went. As for their rims, they were high and dreadful, and they four had their rims full of eyes all around. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went. There was the spirit to go, and the wheels were lifted up beside them. For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went. And when those stood, these stood. And when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them. For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went. And when those stood, these stood. And And when those are lifted up from the earth the wheels were lifted up beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on stretched forth over their heads above. Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other, each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side their bodies. When they went I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army. When they stood they let down their wings. There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads. When they stood they let down their wings. Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and on the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward, and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire. And there was brightness around him, as the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud on the day of rain. So was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it I fell on my face and I heard a voice of one that spoke. CHAPTER II He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak with you. The spirit entered into me when he spoke to me and set me on my feet. And I heard him who spoke to me. He said to me, Son of man, I sent you to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day. The children are impudent and stiff-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you shall tell them. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, They, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house, yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them. You, Son of man, don't be afraid of them. You be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions. Don't be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious. But you, Son of man, hear what I tell you. Don't be you rebellious, like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat that which I give you. When I looked, behold, a hand was put forth to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was therein. He spread it before me, and it was written within and without, and there were written within lamentations, and mourning, and woe. CHAPTER III He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find, eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. He said to me, Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech, and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel. Not to many peoples of a strange speech, and of a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I sent you to them they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me. For all the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stiff heart. Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead. Don't be afraid of them. They will either be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my works that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. Go, get you to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, thus says the Lord Yahweh, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Then the spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place. I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures, as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Kebar, and to where they lived, and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. It happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I tell the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn't turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. Again when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you have delivered your soul. The hand of Yahweh was there on me, and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain, and behold, the glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river K-bar, and I fell on my face. Then the spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me, and said to me, Go, shut yourself within your house, but you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them. And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them. This says the Lord Yahweh, he who hears, let him hear, and he who forbears, let him forbear, for they are a rebellious house. CHAPTER 4 You also, son of man, take a tile and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem, and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it, set camps also against it, and plant battering-rams against it all around. Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city, and set your face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign against the house of Israel. Moreover, lie you on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days, so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah, forty days, each day for a year, for I have appointed it to you. You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arms uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. Behold, I lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege. Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make you bread of it, according to the number of the days that you shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, you shall eat it. Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day, from time to time you shall eat it. You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hen, from time to time you shall drink. You shall eat it as barley-cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight, with dung that comes out of man. Yahweh said, even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them. Then said I, ah, Lord Yahweh, behold, my soul has not been polluted. For from my youth, even up until now, I have not eaten that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals, neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. Then he said to me, behold, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon. Moreover, he said to me, son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness, and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay, that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity. CHAPTER V You, son of man, take a sharp sword. You shall take it as a barber's razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard. Then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair. A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. And you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall take of it a few a number, and bind them in your skirts. Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From it shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, this is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are around her. She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than other nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her, for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes they have not walked in them. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, because you are turbulent more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations. For the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers, and I will execute judgments on you, and the whole remnant of you I will scatter to all the winds. Therefore as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you, neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity. A third part of you shall die with the pestants, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you, and a third part shall fall by the sword around you, and in the third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them. Thus my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted, and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal when I have accomplished my wrath on them. Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by, so it shall be a reproach, and a taunt, an instruction, and an astonishment to the nations that are around you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger, and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes. I, Yahweh, have spoken it. When I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread, and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you, and pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you, I, Yahweh, have spoken it. Chapter 6 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them, and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh, to the mountains, and to the hills, to the water-courses, and to the valleys. Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places, your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate. That your altars may be laid waste and may desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Yet I will leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries. Those of you that escape shall remember me, among the nations, where they shall be carried captive. How that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which is departed from me, and with their eyes which play the prostitute after their idols, and they shall load themselves in their own sight for the evils that they have committed in all their abominations. They shall know that I am Yahweh. I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, smite with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He who is far off shall die of the pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword. And he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus I will accomplish my wrath on them. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols, around their altars. On every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols, I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Dibla, throughout all their habitations, and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Chapter 7 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel. An end. The end is come on the four corners of the land. Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your abominations. My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity, but I will bring your ways on you, and your abomination shall be in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, an evil, and only evil, behold it comes. An end is come, the end is come. It awakes against you, behold it comes. Your doom is come to you, inhabitant of the land. The time is come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains. Now I will shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your abominations. My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. I will bring on you according to your ways, and your abomination shall be in the midst of you, and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike. Behold the day, behold it comes. Your doom is gone forth. The rod has blossomed, pride has budded. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. Neither shall there be eminency among them. The time is come, the day draws near. Don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn. For wrath is on all its multitude. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they yet be alive. For the vision is touching the whole multitude of it. None shall return. Neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. They have blown the trumpet, and have made already, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is on all its multitude. The sword is outside, and the pestilence, and the famine within. He who is in the field shall die with the sword, and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence, shall devour him. But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valley, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them, and shame shall be on all faces, and boldness on all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh. They shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels, because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. As for the beauty of his ornament he said it in majesty, but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing. I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil, and they shall profane it. My face I will turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place, and robbers shall enter into it and profane it. Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be profaned. Destruction comes, and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumour shall be on rumour. And they shall seek a vision of the prophet, but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled. I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them, and they shall know that I am Yahweh. CHAPTER 8 It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me. Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire, from the appearance of his waist and downward fire, and from his waist and upward as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal. He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head, and the spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north, where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain. Then he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now, the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes, the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar, this image of jealousy, in the entry. He said to me, Son of man, see you what they do? In the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary. But you shall again see yet other great abominations. He brought me to the door of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall, and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door. He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in, and saw, and see every form of creeping thing, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jezaniah, the son of Saphon. Every man with his censor in his hand, and the odor of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark? Every man in his chambers of imagery? For they say, Yahweh doesn't see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land. He also said to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate, of Yahweh's house, which was toward the north. And see, there sat the women, weeping for tamus. Then he said to me, Have you seen this, Son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these. He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house, and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. Then he said to me, Have you seen this, Son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? So they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger, and behold, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore I will also deal in wrath. My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them. Chapter 9 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter-weapon in his hand, and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen with a writer's incorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar. The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house, and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's incorn by his side. Yahweh said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh, and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst. To the others, he said in my hearing, Go you through the city after him, and strike, don't let your eye spare, neither have you pity. Kill utterly the old man, the young man, and the virgin, and little children, and women, but don't come near any man on whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men who were before the house. He said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain, Go you forth! They went forth, and struck in the city. It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell in my face, and cried, and said, Ah, Lord Yahweh, will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem? Then he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion, for they say Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn't see us. As for me also, my eye shall not spare. Neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head. Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the incorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as you have commanded me. CHAPTER X Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim, they appeared above them, as if it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherubim, and stood over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. It came to pass when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings. I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like a barrel-stone. As for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions. They didn't turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked, they followed it. They didn't turn as they went. The whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that they forehead. As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. Every one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. The cherubim mounted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river Kebar. When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them, and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn't turn from beside them. When they stood, these stood, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creature was in them. The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth, in my sight, when they went forth, and the wheels beside them, and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel, by the river Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. Everyone had four faces, and every one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Kebar. Their appearances, and themselves, they went every one straight forward. CHAPTER XI Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh's house, which looks eastward, and see, at the door of the gate, twenty-five men. And I saw in the midst of them, Jezaniah, son of Azur, and Palatea, the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city, who say, the time is not near to build houses, this city is the cauldron, and we are the flesh. For prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man, the spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, Speak, thus says Yahweh. Thus have you said, house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your mind. You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, your slain, whom you have laid in its midst, they are the flesh, and this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought forth out of its midst. You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh. I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. The city shall not be your cauldron, neither shall you be the flesh in its midst. I will judge you in the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. For you have not walked in my statutes. Neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you. It happened, when I prophesied, that Palatia, the set of Menea, died. Then I fell down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah, Lord Yahweh, will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel? The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Yahweh? To us is this land given for a possession? Therefore say, thus says the Lord Yahweh, whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come. Therefore say, thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. They shall come here, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it, and all its abominations, from there. I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take a stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of the detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh. Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. The spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the spirit of God in Dukaldia, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spoke to them of the captivity of all things that Yahweh had shown me. End of chapters 1 through 11. Recording by David Lawrence. Brampton, Ontario. November 12, 2008. Chapter 12 through 19 of Ezekiel from the World English Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hereby Ken Campbell. The word of Yahweh also came to me saying, Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see and don't see, who have ears to hear and don't hear, for they are a rebellious house. Therefore you, son of man, prepare your stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight, and you shall remove from your place to another place in their sight. Maybe they will consider, though they are a rebellious house, you shall bring forth your stuff by day in their sight as stuff for removing, and you shall go forth yourself at even in their sight as when men go forth into exile. Dig you through the wall in their sight and carry out thereby. In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder and carry it forth in the dark. You shall cover your face that you don't see the land, for I have set you foresigned to the house of Israel. I did so as I was commanded. I brought forth my stuff by day as stuff for removing, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought it forth in the dark and bore it on my shoulder in their sight. In the morning came the word of Yahweh to me saying, Son of man, has not the house of Israel the rebellious house said to you, what do you? Say you to them, thus says the Lord Yahweh, this burden concerns the Prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are. Say I am your sign, like I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity. The Prince who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth. They shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby. He shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes. My net also will I spread on him, and he shall not be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Cultians. Yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. I will scatter towards every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands, and I will draw out the sword after them. They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them throughout the countries. But I will leave a few men for them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence, and they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come, and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling, and with fearfulness, and tell the people of the land. Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of Israel. They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, and their land may be desolate, and despoiled of all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein. The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolation, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel saying? The days are prolonged, and every vision fails. Tell them therefore, thus said the Lord Yahweh, I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel. But tell them, the days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall be no more any false vision, no flattering divination within the house of Israel, for I am Yahweh. I will speak, and the word that I speak shall be performed. It shall be no more deferred, for in your days rebellious house will I speak the word, and will perform it, said the Lord Yahweh. Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, the vision that he sees is for many day to come, any prophecies of times that are far off. Therefore tell them, thus said the Lord Yahweh, there shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, said the Lord Yahweh. CHAPTER XIII The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, prophecy against the prophets of Israel, who prophecy? And I say you to those who prophesy out of their own heart, hear you the word of Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing. Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the walls for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of Yahweh. They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, Yahweh says, but Yahweh has not sent them, and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. Haven't you seen a false vision? And haven't you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, Yahweh says? But I have not spoken, therefore, thus said the Lord Yahweh, because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, said the Lord Yahweh. My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies. They shall not be in the counsel of my people, neither shall they be written in writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh, because even because they have seduced my people, saying peace, and there is no peace, and when one builds up a wall, behold, they dobb it with whitewash. Tell those who dobb it with whitewash, that it shall fall. There shall be an overflowing shower, and you, great hailstones, shall fall, and the stormy wind shall tear it. Behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said to you, where is the dobbing with which you have dobbed it? Therefore, thus said the Lord Yahweh, I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath, and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it, so I will break down the wall that you have dobbed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered, and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in its midst, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have dobbed it with whitewash, and I will tell you the wall is no more, neither those who dobbed it to wit, the prophets of Israel, who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, said the Lord Yahweh. You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy against them, and say, thus, said the Lord Yahweh, woe to the woman who sow pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every statue to hunt souls. Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourself? You have profaned me among my people, for handfuls of barley, and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls go, even the souls who you hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also I will tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hand of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive. Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Chapter 14 Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me and sat before me. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their inequity before their face. Should I be inquired of it all by them? Therefore speak to them, and tell them. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his inequity before his face, and comes to the prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols, that I may take the house of Israel into their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Therefore tell the house of Israel, thus said the Lord Yahweh, return you, and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all of your abominations, for every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who subjurn in Israel, who separates himself from me and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his inequity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me, I, Yahweh, will answer him by myself, and I will set my face against that man, and I will make him an astonishment for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the mist of my people, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. If the prophet be deceived, and speak a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and I will destroy him from the mist of my people, Israel, they shall bear their inequity. The inequity of the prophet shall be even as the inequity of him who seeks to him, that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me. Neither defile themselves any more with all of their transgressions, but that there may be my people, and I may be their God, said the Lord Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send a famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal, though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, said the Lord Yahweh. If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals, though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters. They only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate. Or if I bring a sword on the land, and say sword, go through the land, so that I cut off it from it man and animal. So these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they should only be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut it off from man and animal, through Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter, they should be but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus says the Lord Yahweh, How much more, when I send my four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword and the famine and the evil animals and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal. Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings, and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it, they shall comfort you. When you see their ways and their doings, and you shall know that I have not done it without cause, all that I have done in it, said the Lord Yahweh. Chapter 15. The word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree? The vine branch, which is among the trees of the forest, shall would be taken of it to make any work, or will men take a pin of it and hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned. Is it profitable for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was met for no work. How much less, when the fire had devoured it, and it is burned shall it yet be met for any work. Therefore, thus said the Lord Yahweh, as the vine tree among the trees of the forest which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them, they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. When I set my face against them, I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, said the Lord Yahweh. Chapter 16. Again the word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations and say, thus said the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem, your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite, and the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite. As for your birth, in the day you were born, your navel was not cut. Neither were you washed in the water to cleanse you. You weren't salted at all nor swaddled at all. No, I pitted you to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you. But you were cast out in the open field. For that your person was abhorred in the day that you were born. When I passed by you and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, though you are in your blood, live, yes I said to you, though you are in your blood, live. I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained the excellent ornament. Your breasts were fashioned and your hair was grown, yet you were naked and bare. Now when I passed by you and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love, and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, said the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine. Then I washed you with water, yes. I thoroughly washed away your blood from you. I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with seal-skin. And I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were decked with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil, and you were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty, for it was perfect. Though my majesty, which I had put on you, said the Lord Yahweh, but you did trust in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by, his it was. You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them. The like thing shall not come, neither shall it be so. You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them. And you took your embroidered garments and covered them, and did set my oil and my incense before them. My bread also, which I gave you, fine flour and oil, and honey, with which I fed you. You did even set it before them for a pleasant aroma, and thus it was, said the Lord Yahweh, moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and those have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitution a small matter, that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them, in all of your abominations, and your prostitution, you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked in bear, and was weltering in your blood. It has happened after all, your wickedness. Woe, woe do you, said the Lord Yahweh, that you have built to you a vaulted place, and have made you a lofty place in every street. You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution. You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors. Great a flesh, you have multiplied your prostitution to provoke me to anger. See, therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and I have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way. You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians because you were insatiable. Yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you were satisfied. You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Kaldia, and yet you weren't satisfied with this. How weak is your heart, said the Lord Yahweh, seeing you do all these things, the work of an imprudent prostitute, in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been a prostitute in that you scorn pay, a wife who commits adultery, who takes strangers instead of her husband. They give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution. You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that none follows you to play the prostitute, and whereas you give higher, and no higher is given to you, therefore you are different. Therefore, prostitute, hear the words of Yahweh, thus said the Lord Yahweh, because of your filthiness was poured out in your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children that you gave to them, therefore see, I will gather all your lovers with whom you have taken pleasure, and all of those you have loved, with all those you have hated, I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. I will judge you as a woman who break wedlock and shed blood, or judge, and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy, I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places, and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels, and they shall leave you naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords. They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women, and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more. So will I cause my wrath towards you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will no more be angry. Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me. And all these things, therefore, behold, I also will bring you your way on your head, said the Lord Yahweh, and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations. Behold, every one who uses proverb shall use this proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband, and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathe their husbands and their children, and your mother was Hittite, and your father was Amorite. Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand. She and her daughters, and your young sister, who dwell at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations, but as if that were the very little thing? You are more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live, said the Lord Yahweh, Sodom, your sister has not done. She nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. Behold, this was the inequity of your sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her, and in her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, they were haunty, and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away, as I saw good, neither as Samaria committed half of your sins. But you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done. You also bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters, through your sins, that you have committed more abominable than they, that they are more righteous than you. Yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters. I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your own captives in the midst of them, that you may bear your own shame, and may be a shame because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them. Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate. And you and your daughters shall return to your former estate, for your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around. You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, said Yahweh. For thus said the Lord Yahweh, I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters, and your younger, and I will give them to you for daughters. But not by your covenant. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh, that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame when I have forgiven you all that you have done, said the Lord Yahweh. Chapter 17. The word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, and say, thus says the Lord Yahweh, a great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar. He cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to the land of traffic. He set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seat of the land and planted it in a fruitful soil. He placed it beside many waters. He set it as a willow tree. It grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him, so it became a vine and brought forth branches and shot forth sprigs. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers, and, behold, this vine did bend its roots towards him, and shot forth the branches toward him from the beds of its plantation that he might water it. It was planted in a good soil by many waters that it might bring forth branches and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. Say you, thus said the Lord Yahweh, shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit? That it may wither? That all its fresh springing leaves may wither? And not by a strong arm, or much people can it be raised from its roots? Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew? Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, So now to the rebellious house, don't you know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon, and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him. He also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up. But that by keeping his covenant it might stand. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Shall he break the covenant and yet escape? As I live, said the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells, who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon, he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh, with his mighty army and great company, help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons. For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he has given his hand, and yet has done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore, thus said the Lord Yahweh, as I live, surely my oath, that he is despised, and my covenant that he is broken. I will even bring it on his own head. I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me. All his fugitives in all his band shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind, and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it. I will crop off the topmost of its young twigs, a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring forth bowels and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar, and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing, in the shade of its branches shall they dwell. All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I, Yahweh, have spoken, and have done it. CHAPTER 18 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, What do you mean that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers of the Eaton Sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, said the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine as the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine. The soul who sins, he shall die. But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right, and is not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity, and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, and has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment. He who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from inequity, has executed true justice between man and man, has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances to deal truly, he is just. He shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh. If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of those things, and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife, has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination, has given forth on interest, and has taken increase. Shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be on him. Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like, who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment, who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes. He shall not die from the inequity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his father? Because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people. Behold, he shall die in his inequity. Yet say you, why does not the son bear the inequity of the father, when the son has done that which is lawful, and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live. The soul who sins, he shall die. The son shall not bear the inequity of his father, neither shall the father bear the inequity of the son, the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him. But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and kept all of my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, said the Lord Yahweh, and not rather that he should return from his way and live? But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits inequity, he does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered, in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sins that he has sinned, in them shall he die. Yet you say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Here and now, house of Israel, is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal? When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits inequity, and dies therein, in his inequity that he has done, shall he die? Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die. Yet says the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, are not my ways equal? Are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, every one according to his ways, said the Lord Yahweh. Return you, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so inequity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, said the Lord Yahweh. Therefore turn yourselves and live. CHAPTER XIX Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel and say, What was your mother? A lioness. She crouched among lions. In the midst of the young lion she nourished her cubs. She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. And the nations also heard of him. He was taken in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. Now, when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion. He went up and down among lions. He became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. He knew their palaces, and laid waste to their cities. And the land was desolate, and its fullness became the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and they spread their net over him. He was taken in their pit. They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into the strongholds that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel. Your mother was like a vine in your blood planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. It had strong rods for the sceptres of those who bore rural, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with a multitude of their branches. But it was plucked up in fury. It was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong rods were broken off and withered. The fire consumed them. Now it was planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. Fire has gone out from the rods of its branches. It has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. End of chapters 12 through 19, recording by Ken Campbell. Chapters 20 through 24 of Ezekiel from the World English Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Chapter 20 It happened in the seventh year in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you. Will you judge them, Son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, In the day when I chose Israel and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God, in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. I said to them, Cast you away every man, the abominations of his eyes, and don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God, but they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me. They did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be forfeigned in the sight of the nations among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, and bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep he shall live in them, and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be forfeigned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out. Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them. Neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness. I said to their children in the wilderness, don't you walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am Yahweh your God, walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances, and do them, and make my Sabbaths holy, and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. But the children rebelled against me. They didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do he shall live in them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them forth. Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries, because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their father's idols. Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live, and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh. Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and tell them, thus is the Lord Yahweh, in this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they had committed a trespass against me. For when I had brought them into the land which I saw to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. Then I said to them, what means the high place where until you go? So its name is called Bama to this day. Therefore tell the house of Israel, thus is the Lord Yahweh, do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers, and play you the prostitute after their abominations, and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you, and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, we will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you? And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh. I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant, and I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who disobey against me. I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh, go you, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also if you will not listen to me, but my holy name you shall know more profane of your gifts, and of your idols. For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things. As a pleasant aroma will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you, in the sight of the nations. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I saw to give to your fathers. There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings in which you have polluted yourselves, and you shall love yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, your house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of Man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the south, and tell the forest of the south. Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree. The flaming flames shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it, it shall not be quenched. Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh, they say of me, isn't he a speaker of parables. Chapter 21 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of Man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel, and tell the land of Israel. Thus says Yahweh, Behold I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheaf, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheaf against all flesh, from the south to the north, and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheaf. It shall not return any more. Psy, therefore, you Son of Man, with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes. It shall be when they tell you, Why do you sigh, that you shall say? Because of the news for it comes, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water. Behold it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of Man, prophesy and say, Thus says Yahweh, Say, a sword, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished. It is sharpened, that it may make a slaughter. It is furbished, that it may be as lightning. Shall we then make mirth? The rod of my son, it condemns every tree. It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled. The sword it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer. Cry and wail, Son of Man, for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike, therefore, on your thigh, for there is a trial, and what if even the rod that condemns shall be no more, says the Lord Yahweh. You, therefore, Son of Man, prophesy and strike your hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded. It is the sword of the great one, who is deadly wounded, which enters into their chambers. I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah, it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter. Gather you together, go to the right, set yourself in array. Go to the left, wherever your face is set. I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest. I, Yahweh, have spoken it. The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, Also, you, Son of Man, appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. They both shall come forth out of one land, and mark out a place, mark it out of the head of the way to the city. You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to rubber of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shook the arrows back and forth. He consulted the pterothim. He looked in the liver. In his right hand was a divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts. It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight who have sworn oves to them, but he brings iniquity to memory that they may be taken. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear. Because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand. You, deadly wounded wicked one, the Prince of Israel, whose day is come. In the time of the iniquity of the end, thus says the Lord Yahweh, remove the turban, and take off the crown. This shall be no more the same. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. This also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him. You, son of man, prophesy and say. Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their approach, and say you, a sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning. While they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked, who are deadly wounded, whose day is come in the time of the iniquity of the end, cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you. I will pour out my indignation on you, I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy. You shall be for fuel to the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken it. Chapter 22 Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city, then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, thus says the Lord Yahweh, a city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her. You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made, and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your years. Therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one, and full of tumult. Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. In you have they set light by father and mother. In the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with a foreigner. In you have they wronged the fatherness and the widow. You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my sabbuffs. Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood, and in you they have eaten on the mountains. In the midst of you they have committed lewdness. In you have they uncovered their father's nakedness. In you have they humbled her who was unclean in her home purity. One has committed abomination with his neighbour's wife, and another has lubely defiled his daughter-in-law, and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter. In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbours by oppression. And I have forgotten me, says the lord Yahweh. Behold, therefore, I have struck in my hand that your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of all you. Can your heart endure or can your hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you. You shall be profaned in yourself in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace. They are the dross of silver. Therefore, thus is the Lord Yahweh. Because you are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it. So will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there and melt you. Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath. And you shall be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, tell her, you are land that is not cleansed and or rained on in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravning the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made her widows many in its midst. Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned to my holy things. They have made no distinction between the coley and the common. Neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravning the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have daubed for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and defining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully. I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh. Chapter 23 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother, and they played the prostitute in Egypt. They played the prostitute in their youth. There were their breasts pressed, and there was Handel, the bosom of their virginity. The names of them were Ahola, the elder, and Aholibah, her sister, and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Ahola, and Jerusalem, Aholibah. Ahola played the prostitute when she was mine, and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians, her neighbours, who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria, all of them, and on whoever she doted with all their idols, she defiled herself. Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt, for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity, and they poured out their prostitution on her. Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness, they took her sons and her daughters, and her they killed the sword, and she became a byword among women, for they executed judgments on her. Her sister, Aholibah, saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution, which were more than the prostitution of her sister. She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbours, cloved most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she was defiled, they both took one way. She increased her prostitution, for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with the million, girded with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians and Chaldea, the land of their birth. As soon as she saw them, she doted on them and sent messages to them into Chaldea. The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. So she uncovered her prostitution and uncovered her nakedness, then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt. She doted on their paramours, whose flesh she's as a flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus you call to memory the luneness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth. Therefore, O Holy Bar, thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side. The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Peacot and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and rulers, all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They shall come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peacles. They shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury. They shall take away your nose and your ears, and your residue shall fall by the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters, and your residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them nor remember Egypt any more. For thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated, and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labour, and shall leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution. These things shall be done to you because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister. Therefore will I give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, You will drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large. You will be ridiculed and held in derision. It contains much. You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with a cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister, Samaria. You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts. For I have spoken it as the Lord Yahweh. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore bear you also your lewdness and your prostitution. Yahweh said moreover to me, Son of Man, will you judge Ohola and Oholibah, then declare to them their abominations, for they have committed adultery and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and they have also caused their sons whom they bore to me to pass through the fire to them to be devoured. Moreover, this they have done to me, they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. But when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it, and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house. Furthermore, you have sent for men who come from far to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came, for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and deck yourself with ornaments, and sit on a stately bed with a table prepared before it, whereupon you did set my incense and my oil. The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her, and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then said I of her who was old in adulteries, now will they play the prostitute with her, and she with them. They went into her as they go into a prostitute, so went they into a holla, and to a holly-bar the lewd woman. Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. For thus is the Lord Yahweh. I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed. The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols, and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh. Chapter 24 Again in the ninth year in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of Man, write you the name of the day, even of this same day. The King of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day. Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, Thus is the Lord Yahweh. Set on the cauldron, set it on, and also pour water into it. Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the cauldron. Make it boil well, yes, that its bones be bold in its midst. Therefore thus is the Lord Yahweh. Row to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it. Take out of it, piece after piece, no lot is fallen on it, for her blood is in the midst of her. She set it on the bare rock, she didn't pour it on the ground to cover it with dust, that it may cause Roth to come up to take vengeance. I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus is the Lord Yahweh. Row to the bloody city, I also will make the pile great, heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its brass may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed. She has wearied herself with toil, yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her. Her rust doesn't go forth by fire. In your filthiness is lewdness, because I have cleansed you, and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my Roth toward you to rest. I, Yahweh, have spoken it, it shall happen, and I will do it. I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent according to your ways, and according to your doing shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh. Also the word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke, yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down, sigh, but not aloud. Make no mourning for the dead, bind your headdress on you and put your shoes on your feet, and don't cover your lips and don't eat men's bread. So I spoke to the people in the morning, and that even my wife died, and I did in the morning as I was commanded. The people said to me, won't you tell us what these things are to us that you do so? Then I said to them, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, speak to the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities, and your sons and your daughters, whom you have left behind, shall fall by the sword. You shall do as I have done. You shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet. You shall not mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another. Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign. According to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know, that I and the Lord Yahweh, you son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters, that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears. In that day your mouth will be open to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they shall know, that I am Yahweh. End of chapters 20 through 24.