Chapter 5

1 "As for you, son of man, take a sharp ^R117 sword; take and use ^F47 it as a barber's razor on your head and beard. Then take scales ^R118 for weighing and divide the ^F48 hair. 2 "One third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the days ^R119 of the siege are completed. Then you shall take one third and strike it with the sword all around the ^F49 city, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe ^R120 a sword behind them. 3 "Take also a few in number from them ^F50 and bind them in the edges of your robes. 4 "Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread ^F51 to all the house of Israel.

5 "Thus says the Lord GOD, `This is Jerusalem; <sup>R121</sup> I have set her at the center <sup>R122</sup> of the nations, with lands around her. 6 `But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more ^R123 than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected ^R124 My ordinances and have not walked in ^F53 My statutes.' 7 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, `Because you have more <sup>R125</sup> turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,' 8 therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, `Behold, I, even I, am against ^R126 you, and I will execute ^R127 judgments among you in the sight of the nations. 9 `And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not <sup>R128</sup> done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 `Therefore, fathers ^R129 will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter ^R130 all your remnant to every wind. 11 `So as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, `surely, because you have defiled ^R131 My sanctuary with all your detestable ^R132 idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare. 12 `One third of you will die by plague <sup>R133</sup> or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter <sup>R134</sup> to every wind, and I will unsheathe <sup>R135</sup> a sword behind them. 13 `Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy ^F54 My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; ^{R136 F55} then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken ^R137 in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them. 14 `Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach <sup>R138</sup> among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15 `So it ^F56 will be a reproach, a reviling, a warning ^R139 and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I execute ^R140 judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken. 16 `When I send against them the deadly <sup>F57</sup> arrows of famine which were <sup>F58</sup> for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. 17 `Moreover, I ^R141 will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; plague ^R142 and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.' "

Chapter 6

1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains ^R143 of Israel, and prophesy against them 3 and say, `Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: "Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I ^R144 will destroy your high places. 4 "So your altars ^R145 will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. 5 "I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones ^R146 around your altars. 6 "In all your dwellings, cities ^R147 will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, ^F60 your idols ^R148 may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. 7 "The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

8 "However, I will leave a remnant, ^R149 for you will have those who escaped ^R150 the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. 9 "Then those of you who escape will remember ^R151 Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been ^{R152 F61} hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe ^R153 themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 "Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that ^F62 I would inflict this disaster on them."'

11 "Thus says the Lord GOD, `Clap your hand, stamp ^R154 your foot and say, "Alas, ^R155 because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, ^R156 famine and plague! 12 "He who is far ^R157 off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend ^R158 My wrath on them. 13 "Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain ^R159 are among their idols around their altars, on every ^R160 high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak--the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. 14 "So throughout all their habitations I will stretch ^R161 out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the LORD.""'

Chapter 7

1 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, `An end! <sup>R162</sup> The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3 `Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 4 `For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring <sup>R163</sup> your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know <sup>R164</sup> that I am the LORD!' 5 "Thus says the Lord GOD, `A disaster, ^R165 unique disaster, behold it is coming! 6 `An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened <sup>R166</sup> against you; behold, it has come! 7 `Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time ^R167 has come, the day ^R168 is near--tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 `Now I will shortly pour <sup>R169</sup> out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge <sup>R170</sup> you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. 9 `My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay ^F66 you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting. 10 `Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod <sup>R171</sup> has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11 `Violence has ^F67 grown into a rod of wickedness. ^R172 None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, ^R173 nor anything eminent among them. 12 `The time <sup>R174</sup> has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer <sup>R175</sup> rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath <sup>R176</sup> is against all their multitude. 13 `Indeed, the seller will not regain ^{R177 F68} what ^F69 he sold as long as they ^F70 both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be ^F71 averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity. 14 `They have blown <sup>R178</sup> the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their <sup>F72</sup> multitude. 15 `The sword ^R179 is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city.

16 `Even when their survivors escape, <sup>R180</sup> they will be on the mountains like doves <sup>R181</sup> of the valleys, all of them mourning, <sup>R182 F73</sup> each over his own iniquity. 17 `All hands ^R183 will hang limp and all knees will become ^F74 like water. 18 `They will gird <sup>R184</sup> themselves with sackcloth and shuddering <sup>R185</sup> will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness <sup>R186</sup> on all their heads. 19 `They will fling ^R187 their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver ^R188 and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite ^F75 nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling. 20 `They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they <sup>R189</sup> made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21 `I will give it into the hands of the foreigners ^R190 as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. 22 `I will also turn My face ^R191 from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.

23 `Make <sup>R192</sup> the chain, for the land is full of bloody <sup>R193 F76</sup> crimes and the city is full <sup>R194</sup> of violence. 24 `Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, ^R195 and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride ^R196 of the strong ones cease, and their holy ^R197 places will be profaned. 25 `When anguish comes, they will seek peace, <sup>R198</sup> but there will be none. 26 `Disaster ^R199 will come upon disaster and rumor ^R200 will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision ^R201 from a prophet, but the law ^R202 will be lost from the priest and counsel ^R203 from the elders. 27 `The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed ^R204 with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. ^F77 According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.' "

Chapter 8

1 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a ^F79 man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance ^R205 of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of ^R206 glowing ^F80 metal. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit ^R207 lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north ^F81 gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes ^R208 to jealousy, was located. 4 And behold, the glory ^R209 of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain. 5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, raise ^R210 your eyes now toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol ^R211 of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations ^R212 which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations."

7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, "Son of man, now dig ^R213 through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here." 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 Standing in front of them were seventy ^R214 elders ^R215 of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer ^R216 in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, `The ^R217 LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken ^R218 the land.' "

13 And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing." 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate ^R219 of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these." 16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs ^R220 to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they ^R221 were prostrating ^F82 themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled ^R222 the land with violence and provoked ^R223 Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 "Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though ^R224 they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them."

Chapter 9

1 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice ^R225 saying, "Draw near, O ^F83 executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand." 2 Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a ^R226 certain man clothed in linen with a writing ^F84 case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Then the glory ^R227 of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. ^F85 And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. 4 The LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark ^R228 on the foreheads of the men who sigh ^R229 and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."

5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6 "Utterly ^F86 slay ^R230 old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch ^R231 any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start ^R232 from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders ^F87 who were before the temple. ^F88 7 And He said to them, "Defile ^R233 the temple ^F89 and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. 8 As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell ^R234 on my face and cried out saying, ^F90 "Alas, ^R235 Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by ^F92 pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?" 9 Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled ^R236 with blood and the city is full ^R237 of perversion; for they ^R238 say, `The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!' 10 "But as for Me, My ^R239 eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I ^R240 will bring their conduct upon their heads." 11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing ^F93 case reported, ^F94 saying, "I have done just as You have commanded me."