Sep 6 - Ezekiel 5-9
Ezekiel
1"And as for you, son of man, obtain for yourself a sharp knife for shaving hair, and you shall take it and draw it across your head and across your beard. And you shall obtain for yourself a balance for weighing, and you shall divide the hair2A third part you shall burn with fire in the midst of the city, according to the completion of the days of the siege. And you shall take a third part, and you shall cut it with the knife all around. Yet truly, the other third, you shall scatter to the wind, for I will unsheathe the sword after them3And you shall take from there a small number. And you shall bind them in the end of your cloak4And again, you shall take from them, and you shall throw them into the midst of the fire, and you shall burn them with fire. And from it, there shall go forth a fire to the entire house of Israel.5Thus says the Lord God: "This is Jerusalem. I have placed her in the midst of the Gentiles and of the lands all around her6And she has despised my judgments, so as to be more impious than the Gentiles, and my precepts, more so than the lands that are all around her. For they have cast aside my judgments, and they have not walked in my precepts.7For this reason, thus says the Lord God: "Since you have surpassed the Gentiles who are all around you, and have not walked in my precepts, and have not accomplished my judgments, and have not even acted in accord with the judgments of the Gentiles who are all around you8therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I myself will accomplish judgments in your midst, in the sight of the Gentiles9And I will do in you what I have not done before, and the likes of which I will not do again, because of all your abominations10Therefore, the fathers shall consume the sons in your midst, and the sons shall consume their fathers. And I will execute judgments in you, and I will winnow your entire remnant in every wind11Therefore, as I myself live says the Lord God, because you have violated my sanctuary with all your offenses and with all your abominations, I also will break into pieces, and my eye will not be lenient, and I will not take pity12One third part of you will die by pestilence or be consumed by famine in your midst. And one third part of you will fall by the sword all around you. Yet truly, one third part of you I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them13And I will fulfill my fury, and I will cause my indignation to rest upon them, and I will be consoled. And they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my zeal, when I will have fulfilled my indignation in them14And I will make you desolate, and a disgrace among the Gentiles, who are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by15And you shall be a disgrace and a blasphemy, an example and an astonishment, among the Gentiles, who are all around you, when I will have executed judgments in you, in fury and in indignation and with rebukes of wrath16I, the Lord, have spoken. At that time, I will send among them the most grievous arrows of famine, which shall bring death, and which I will send so that I may destroy you. And I will gather a famine over you, and I will crush the staff of bread among you17And I will send among you famine and very harmful beasts, even unto utter ruin. And pestilence and blood shall pass through you. And I will bring the sword over you. I, the Lord, have spoken.
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying2"Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and you shall prophesy against them3and you shall say: O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills and cliffs and valleys: Behold, I will lead over you the sword. And I will destroy your exalted places4And I will demolish your altars. And your graven images will be broken apart. And I will throw down your slain before your idols5And I will lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel before the face of your idols. And I will scatter your bones around your altars6In all of your habitations, the cities will be made desolate, and the exalted places will be torn down and scattered. And your altars will be broken and destroyed. And your idols will cease to exist. And your shrines will be crushed. And your works will be wiped away7And the slain will fall in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord8And I will leave among you those who will escape the sword among the Gentiles, when I will have dispersed you upon the earth9And your liberated shall remember me among the nations to which they were led away as captives. For I have crushed their heart, which fornicated and withdrew from me, and their eyes, which fornicated after their idols. And they will be displeased with themselves over the evils that they have done by all their abominations10And they shall know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain, that I would do this evil to them.11Thus says the Lord God: "Strike with your hand, and stomp with your foot, and say: ‘Alas, to all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel!’ For they will fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence12Whoever is far away will die of pestilence. But whoever is near will fall by the sword. And whoever remains and is besieged will die by famine. And I will fulfill my indignation among them13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain will be in the midst of your idols, all around your altars, on every exalted hill, and on the summits of all the mountains, and under every dense tree, and under every leafy oak: the places where they burned sweet-smelling incense to all their idols14And I will extend my hand over them. And I will make the earth desolate and destitute: from the desert of Riblah to all their dwelling places. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying2"And as for you, son of man: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is coming, the end is coming, over the four regions of the earth3Now the end is over you, and I will send my fury upon you. And I will judge you according to your ways. And I will place all your abominations before you4And my eye will not be lenient over you, and I will not take pity. Instead, I will set your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord.5Thus says the Lord God: "One affliction, behold, one affliction is approaching6The end is coming, the end is coming. It has been vigilant against you. Behold, it is approaching7Destruction is coming over you, who live upon the earth. The time is approaching, the day of slaughter is near, and it is not of the glory of the mountains8Now, very soon, I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will fulfill my fury in you. And I will judge you according to your ways, and I will set upon you all your crimes9And my eye will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. Instead, I will place your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, who is striking10Behold, the day! Behold, it approaches! Destruction has gone forth, the rod has blossomed, arrogance has germinated11Iniquity has risen up into a rod of impiety. There shall be nothing left of them, and of their people, and of the sound of them. And there shall be no rest for them12The time is approaching; the day is very near. Whoever buys should not rejoice. And whoever sells should not mourn. For wrath is over all of their people13For whoever sells will not return to what he has sold, but as yet their life will be among the living. For the vision concerning their entire multitude will not turn back. And man will not be strengthened in the iniquity of his life14Sound the trumpet! Let everyone be prepared! And yet there is no one who may go to battle. For my wrath is over all their people15The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. And whoever is in the city will be devoured by the pestilence and the famine16And those who flee from among them will be saved. And they will be among the mountains, like doves in steep valleys, with everyone of them trembling, each one because of his iniquity17All hands will be weakened, and all knees will flow with water18And they will wrap themselves with haircloth, and dread will cover them. And shame will be upon every face, and baldness will be upon all of their heads19Their silver will be thrown away, and their gold will be like a dunghill. Their silver and their gold will have no power to free them in the day of the fury of the Lord. They will not satisfy their soul, and their bellies will not be filled, because of the scandal of their iniquity20And they have set arrogance as the ornament of their necklaces, and they have made images of their abominations and graven idols. Because of this, I have let it be an uncleanness for them21And I will give it into the hands of foreigners as a spoil, and to the impious of the earth as a prey, and they will defile it22And I will avert my face from them, and they will violate my place of mystery. And untamed persons will enter into it, and they will defile it23Cause it to be closed. For the land has been filled with the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity24And I will lead in the most sinful among the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses. And I will cause the arrogance of the powerful to be quieted. And they will possess their sanctuaries25When anguish overwhelms them, they will seek peace, and there will be none26Disturbance will follow after disturbance, and rumor after rumor. And they will seek the vision of the prophet, and the law will perish from the priest, and counsel will perish from the elders27The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed with grief, and the hands of the people of the earth will be greatly disturbed. I will act toward them in accord with their own way, and I will judge them in accord with their own judgments. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
1And it happened that, in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there2And I saw, and behold, there was an image with the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his waist, and downward, there was fire. And from his waist, and upward, there was the appearance of splendor, like the sight of amber3And as the image of a hand went out, it took hold of me by a lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven. And he brought me into Jerusalem, within a vision of God, next to the inner gate that looked toward the north, where there was stationed an idol of rivalry, so as to provoke an envious emulation4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, in accord with the vision that I had seen in the plain5And he said to me: "Son of man, lift up your eyes to the way of the north." And I lifted up my eyes to the way of the north. And behold, from the north of the gate of the altar was the idol of rivalry, at the same entrance6And he said to me: "Son of man, you see what these ones are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here. Do you not think, then, that I should withdraw far away from my own sanctuary? But if you turn again, you will see even greater abominations.7And he led me in by the door of the atrium. And I saw, and behold, there was an opening in the wall8And he said to me: "Son of man, dig in the wall." And when I had dug in the wall, there appeared one door9And he said to me: "Enter and see the most wicked abominations which they are committing here.10And entering, I saw, and behold, every kind of image of reptiles and animals, the abominations, and all of the idols of the house of Israel were depicted on the wall all around, throughout the entire place11And there were seventy men out of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing in their midst, and they stood before the pictures. And each one had a censer in his hand. And a cloud of smoke rose up from the incense12And he said to me: "Certainly, son of man, you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each one while hidden in his chamber. For they say: ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the earth.’ 13And he said to me: "If you turn again, you will see even greater abominations, which these ones are committing.14And he led me in through the door of the gate of the Lord’s house, which looked toward the north. And behold, women were sitting there, mourning for Adonis15And he said to me: "Certainly, son of man, you have seen. But if you turn again, you will see even greater abominations than these.16And he led me into the inner atrium of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the vestibule and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east. And they were adoring toward the rising of the Sun17And he said to me: "Certainly, son of man, you have seen. Can this be so trivial to the house of Judah, when they commit these abominations, just as they have committed here, that, having filled the earth with iniquity, they now turn to provoke me? And behold, they are applying a branch to their nose18Therefore, I also will act toward them in my fury. My eye will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. And when they will have cried out to my ears with a loud voice, I will not heed them.
1And he cried out in my ears with a loud voice, saying: "The visitations of the city have drawn near, and each one has equipment for killing in his hand.2And behold, six men were approaching from the way of the upper gate, which looks to the north. And each one had equipment for killing in his hand. Also, one man in their midst was clothed with linen, and an instrument for writing was at his waist. And they entered and stood beside the bronze altar3And the glory of the Lord of Israel was taken up, from the cherub upon which he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called out to the man who was clothed with linen and had an instrument for writing at his waist4And the Lord said to him: "Cross through the middle of the city, in the center of Jerusalem, and seal a Tau upon the foreheads of the grieving men, who are mourning over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.5And he said to the others, in my hearing: "Cross through the city after him, and strike! Your eye shall not be lenient, and you shall not take pity6Kill, even to utter destruction, old men, young men, and virgins, little ones, and women. But all upon whom see the Tau, you shall not kill. And begin from my sanctuary." Therefore, they began with the men among the elders, who were before the face of the house7And he said to them: "Defile the house, and fill its courts with the slain! Go forth!" And they went forth and struck down those who were in the city8And when the slaughter was completed, I remained. And I fell upon my face, and crying out, I said: "Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Will you now destroy the entire remnant of Israel, by pouring out your fury upon Jerusalem?9And he said to me: "The iniquity of the house of Israel, and of Judah, is vast and exceedingly great, and the land has been filled with blood, and the city has been filled with what is abhorrent. For they have said: ‘The Lord has forsaken the earth,’ and, ‘The Lord does not see.10Therefore, my eye will not be lenient, and I will not take pity. I will repay their own way upon their head.11And behold, the man who was clothed with linen, who had a writing instrument at his back, responded a word, saying: "I have done just as you instructed me.