42. We have transgressed, and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. 43. Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 44. Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through. 45. Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. 46. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 47. Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. 48. Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, 50. Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven. 51. Mine eye affecteth my heart, because of all the daughters of my city. 52. Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. 53. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 54. Waters flowed over my head; then I said, I am cut off. 55. I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. 56. Thou hast heard my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. 57. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. 58. O LORD, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. 59. O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause. 60. Thou hast seen all their vengeance, and all their imaginations against me. 61. Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me; 62. The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. 63. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their music. 64. Render unto them a recompense, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. 65. Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. 66. Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD. CHAP. IV. 1 Zion's pitiful estate bewailed: 13 She confesseth her sins. dim! how is to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3. Even the sea-monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 5. They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 6. For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 7. Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 8. Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 9. They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11. The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 12. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. 13. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her. 14. They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15. They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 16. The anger of the LORD hath divided 1. HOW is the gold becom changed: the them; he will no more regard them: they stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2. The precious sons of Zion, comparable respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 17. As for us, our eyes as yet failed fo our vain help: in our watching we have || watched for a nation that could not save us. 18. They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 19. Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 20. The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. 21. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: the cup also shall pass through unto thee; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 22. The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. 1. NOW 6. We have given the hand to the Egyp tians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 7. Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities. 8. Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. 9. We gat our bread with the peril of our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness. 10. Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine. 11. They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 12. Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. 13. They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. 14. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music. 15. The joy of our heart is ceased, our dance is turned into mourning. 16. The crown is fallen from our head: wo unto us that we have sinned! 17. For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim, 18. Because of the mountain of Zion, 19. Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. 20. Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? 21. Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. 22. But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us. ¶ The BOOK of the Prophet EZEKIEL. CHAP. I. 1 The time of Ezekiel's prophecy at Chebar: 4 His vision. TOW it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the cap: tives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2. In the fifth day of the month, (which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,) 3. The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. 4. And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof, as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire: 5. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 6. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. 8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings, on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. 9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. a 10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of 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. 11. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. 12. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. 13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 15. Now, as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. 16. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl; and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 17. When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went. 18. As for their rings, they were so high, that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. 19. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21. 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 over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 22. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. 23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. 24. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings. 25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire-stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it; from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw it as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. 2. And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4. For they are impudent children, and stiff-hearted: I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 5. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 7. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious. 8. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9. And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10. And he spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and wo. CHAP. III. 1 Ezekiel eateth the roll. 4 God encourageth him. seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 1. MOREOVER, he said unto me, Son 17. Son of man, I have made thee a this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 4. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 5. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech, and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel: 6. Not to many people of a strange speech, and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand: surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. 7: But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9. As an adamant, harder than flint, have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10. Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine 12. Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. fore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest 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 thy hand. 19. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20. Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 21. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned: also thou hast delivered thy soul. 22. ¶ And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. 23. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. 24. Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thy house. 25. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26. And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house. 13. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, 27. But when I speak with thee, I will and the noise of the wheels over against open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, and a noise of a great rushing. 14. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 15. T Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Che bar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. 16. And it came to pass, at the end of them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, He that heareth, let him hear; and he that for beareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house. CHAP. IV. By the provision of the seige is shewed the hardness of the famine. 1.tile, and lay it before thee, am HOU also, son of man, take thee a pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: 2. And lay siege against it, and build a || fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering-rams against it round about. 3. Moreover, take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. 4. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. 5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. 7. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. 8. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege. 9. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. 10. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a-day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. 11. Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. 12. And thou shalt eat it as barley-cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13. And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. 14. Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up, even till now, have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. 15. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. 16. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: 17. That they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity, CHAP. V. The judgment of Jerusalem for their rebellion. AND thou, son of man, take thee a 1. sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thy head, and upon thy beard; then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife; and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind: and I will draw out a sword after them. 3. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. 5. Thus saith the Lord GOD, This is Je rusalem: I have set it in the midst of the na tions and countries that are round about her. 6. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7. Therefore thus saith the Lord Gop, Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; 8. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee, in the sight of the nations. 9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like; because of all thine abominations. 10. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. 11. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord |