Ezekiel 10-13 - NASB - New American Standard Bible

Ezekiel 10-13

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple

Then I looked, and behold, in the ¹^aexpanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a ^bsapphire stone, in appearance resembling a ^cthrone, appeared above them. 2 And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the ^awhirling wheels under the ¹cherubim and fill your hands with ^bcoals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the ¹temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ^ainner court. 4 Then the ^aglory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the ^btemple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the ^cbrightness of the glory of the Lord. 5 Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the ^avoice of ¹God Almighty when He speaks.
6 It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9 Then I looked, and behold, ^afour wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a ¹^bTarshish stone. 10 As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. 11 When they moved, they went ^ain any of their four ¹directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which ²they faced, without turning as they went. 12 Their ^awhole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the ^bwheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. 13 The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. 14 And ^aeach one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 Then the cherubim rose up. They are the ^aliving beings that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. 17 When ¹the cherubim ^astood still, ¹the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, ¹the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood ^aover the cherubim. 19 When ^athe cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them.
20 These are the ^aliving beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by ^bthe river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. 21 ^aEach one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. 22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.

Evil Rulers to Be Judged

Moreover, the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^bPelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and ^agive evil advice in this city, 3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ¹This ^acity is the pot and we are the flesh.’ 4 Therefore, ^aprophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for ^aI know ¹your ^bthoughts. 6 You have ^amultiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with ¹them.” 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord ¹God, “Your ^aslain whom you have laid in the midst of ²the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ³I will ^bbring you out of it. 8 You have ^afeared a sword; so I will ^bbring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares. 9 “And I will bring you out of the midst of ¹the city and deliver you into the hands of ^astrangers and ^bexecute judgments against you. 10 You will ^afall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^bborder of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will ^anot be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel. 12 Thus you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you ^aexecuted My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the ^bnations around you.”’”
13 Now it came about as I prophesied, that ^aPelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “^bAlas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Promise of Restoration

14 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your ¹relatives, ²your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; this land has been given ^aus as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^asanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will ^agather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 When they come there, they will ^aremove all its ^bdetestable things and all its abominations from it. 19 And I will ^agive them one heart, and put a new spirit within ¹them. And I will take the ^bheart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^cheart of flesh, 20 that they may ^awalk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^bMy people, and I shall be their God. 21 ¹But as for those whose hearts go after their ^adetestable things and abominations, I will ^bbring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.
22 Then the cherubim ^alifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^bthe glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them. 23 The ^aglory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^bstood over the mountain which is east of the city. 24 And the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ¹in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ²^bleft me. 25 Then I ^atold the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Ezekiel Prepares for Exile

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, you live in the ^amidst of the ^brebellious house, who ^chave eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. 3 Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. ^aPerhaps they will ¹understand though they are a rebellious house. 4 Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out ^aat evening in their sight, as those going into exile. 5 Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and ¹go out through it. 6 Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall ^acover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a ^bsign to the house of Israel.”
7 I ^adid so, as I had been commanded. By day I ^bbrought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.
8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the ^arebellious house, said to you, ‘^bWhat are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord ¹God, “This ²^aburden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are ³in it.”’ 11 Say, ‘I am ¹a ^asign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will ^bgo into exile, into captivity.’ 12 The ^aprince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. ¹They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he can not see the land with his eyes. 13 I will also spread My ^anet over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will ^bnot see it, though he will die there. 14 I will ^ascatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them. 15 So they will ^aknow that I am the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. 16 But I will ¹spare a few of them from the ^asword, the famine and the pestilence that they may tell all their abominations among the nations where they go, and ²may ^bknow that I am the Lord.”
17 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, ^aeat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. 19 Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because ¹their land will be ²^astripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it. 20 The inhabited ^acities will be laid waste and the ^bland will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the Lord.”’”
21 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what is this ^aproverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The ^bdays are long and every ^cvision fails’? 23 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But tell them, “^aThe days draw near as well as the ¹fulfillment of every vision. 24 For there will no longer be any ¹^afalse vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I the Lord will speak, and whatever ^aword I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in ^byour days, O ^crebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’”
26 Furthermore, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 27 “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for ^amany ¹years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,”’” declares the Lord God.

False Prophets Condemned

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the ^aprophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own ¹inspiration, ‘^bListen to the word of the Lord! 3 Thus says the Lord ¹God, “Woe to the ^afoolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have ^bseen nothing. 4 O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. 5 You have not ^agone up into the ^bbreaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^cday of the Lord. 6 They see ¹^afalsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; ^byet they hope for the fulfillment of their word. 7 ^aDid you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”’”
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken ¹falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, ^aI am against you,” declares the Lord God. 9 “So My hand will be against the ^aprophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will ¹have no place in the council of My people, ^bnor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, ²that you may know that I am the Lord God. 10 It is definitely because they have ^amisled My people by saying, ‘^bPeace!’ when there is ^cno peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; 11 so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A ^aflooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out. 12 Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” 13 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and ^ahailstones to consume it in wrath. 14 So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its ^afoundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be ^bconsumed in its midst. And you will ^cknow that I am the Lord. 15 Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ¹is gone and its plasterers are gone, 16 along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who ^asee visions of peace for her when there is ^bno peace,’ declares the Lord God.
17 “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are ^aprophesying ^bfrom their own ¹inspiration. Prophesy against them 18 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on ¹all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to ^ahunt down ²lives! Will you hunt down the ²lives of My people, but preserve the ²lives of others for yourselves? 19 ^aFor handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death ¹some who should not die and to ^bkeep ¹others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.”’”
20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt ¹lives there as ²birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let ¹them go, even those ¹lives whom you hunt as ²birds. 21 I will also tear off your veils and ^adeliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you ^adisheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have ¹^bencouraged the wicked not to ^cturn from his wicked way and preserve his life, 23 therefore, you women will no longer see ¹^afalse visions or practice divination, and I will ^bdeliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will ^cknow that I am the Lord.”

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
For Permission to Quote information visit lockman.org by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.