| { |
| "title": "Ezekiel", |
| "language": "en", |
| "versionTitle": "merged", |
| "versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel", |
| "text": [ |
| [ |
| "In the thirtieth year,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the thirtieth year </b>We do not know the 30th of what.</i> on the fifth day of the fourth month, when I was in the community of exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God. ", |
| "(On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—", |
| "the word of G<small>OD</small> came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, by the Chebar Canal, in the land of the Chaldeans. And the hand of G<small>OD</small> came upon him there.)", |
| "I looked, and lo, a stormy wind came sweeping out of the north—a huge cloud and flashing fire, surrounded by a radiance; and in the center of it, in the center of the fire, a gleam as of amber. ", |
| "In the center of it were also the figures of four creatures. And this was their appearance:<br>They had the figures of human beings.", |
| "However, each had four faces, and each of them had four wings; ", |
| "the legs of each were [fused into] a single rigid leg, and the feet of each were like a single calf’s hoof;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>like a single calf’s hoof </b>I.e., cleft in front.</i> and their sparkle<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>sparkle </b>Or “plumage.”</i> was like the luster of burnished bronze. ", |
| "They had human hands below their wings. The four of them had their faces and their wings on their four sides.", |
| "Each one’s wings touched those of the other. They did not turn when they moved; each could move in the direction of any of its faces.", |
| "Each of them had a human face [at the front]; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right; each of the four had the face of an ox on the left; and each of the four had the face of an eagle [at the back].", |
| "Such were their faces. As for their wings, they were separated: above, each had two touching those of the others, while the other two covered its body. ", |
| "And each could move in the direction of any of its faces; they went wherever the spirit impelled them to go, without turning when they moved.", |
| "Such then was the appearance of the creatures. With them was something that looked like burning coals of fire. This fire, suggestive of torches, kept moving about among the creatures; the fire had a radiance, and lightning issued from the fire. ", |
| "Dashing to and fro [among] the creatures was something that looked like flares.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Dashing to and fro [among] the creatures was something that looked like flares </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "As I gazed on the creatures, I saw one wheel on the ground next to each of the four-faced creatures. ", |
| "As for the appearance and structure of the wheels, they gleamed like beryl. All four had the same form; the appearance and structure of each was as of two wheels cutting through each other. ", |
| "And when they moved, each could move in the direction of any of its four quarters; they did not veer when they moved. ", |
| "Their rims were tall and frightening, for the rims of all four were covered all over with eyes. ", |
| "And when the creatures moved forward, the wheels moved at their sides; and when the creatures were borne above the earth, the wheels were borne too. ", |
| "Wherever the spirit impelled them to go, they went—wherever the spirit impelled them—and the wheels were borne alongside them; for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. ", |
| "When those moved, these moved; and when those stood still, these stood still; and when those were borne above the earth, the wheels were borne alongside them—for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels.", |
| "Above the heads of the creatures was a form: an expanse, with an awe-inspiring gleam as of crystal, was spread out above their heads. ", |
| "Under the expanse, each had one pair of wings extended toward those of the others; and each had another pair covering its body. ", |
| "When they moved, I could hear the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the sound of Shaddai,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Shaddai </b>Traditionally “the Almighty”; see Gen. 17.1.</i> a tumult like the din of an army. When they stood still, they would let their wings droop. ", |
| "From above the expanse over their heads came a sound.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>From above the expanse over their heads came a sound </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> When they stood still, they would let their wings droop.", |
| "Above the expanse over their heads was the semblance of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and on top, upon this semblance of a throne, there was the semblance of a human form. ", |
| "From what appeared as the loins up, I saw a gleam as of amber—what looked like a fire encased in a frame;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>what looked like a fire encased in a frame </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and from what appeared as the loins down, I saw what looked like fire. There was a surrounding radiance. ", |
| "Like the appearance of the bow that shines in the clouds on a day of rain, such was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. That was the appearance of the semblance of the Presence of G<small>OD</small>. When I beheld it, I flung myself down on my face. And I heard the voice of someone speaking." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "And it said to me, “O mortal, stand up on your feet that I may speak to you.” ", |
| "As it spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard what was being spoken to me. ", |
| "[God] said to me, “O mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, that nation of rebels, who have rebelled against Me.—They as well as their ancestors have defied Me to this very day; ", |
| "for the descendants are brazen of face and stubborn of heart. I send you to them, and you shall say to them: ‘Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>’— ", |
| "whether they listen or not, for they are a rebellious breed—that they may know that there was a prophet among them.", |
| "“And you, mortal, do not fear them and do not fear their words, though thistles and thorns press against<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>press against </b>Lit. “are with.”</i> you, and you sit upon scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words and do not be dismayed by them, though they are a rebellious breed; ", |
| "but speak My words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.", |
| "“And you, mortal, heed what I say to you: Do not be rebellious like that rebellious breed. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” ", |
| "As I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, holding a written scroll. ", |
| "[God] unrolled it before me, and it was inscribed on both the front and the back; on it were written lamentations, dirges, and woes." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "[God] said to me, “Mortal, eat what is offered you; eat this scroll, and go speak to the House of Israel.” ", |
| "So I opened my mouth, and I was given this scroll to eat, ", |
| "as I was told, “Mortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me.", |
| "Then [God] said to me, “Mortal, go to the House of Israel and repeat My very words to them. ", |
| "For you are sent, not to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the House of Israel— ", |
| "not to the many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose talk you cannot understand. If I sent you to them, they would listen to you. ", |
| "But the House of Israel will refuse to listen to you, for they refuse to listen to Me; for the whole House of Israel are brazen of forehead and stubborn of heart. ", |
| "But I will make your face as hard as theirs, and your forehead as brazen as theirs. ", |
| "I will make your forehead like adamant, harder than flint. Do not fear them, and do not be dismayed by them, though they are a rebellious breed.”", |
| "Then [God] said to me: “Mortal, listen with your ears and receive into your mind all the words that I speak to you. ", |
| "Go to your people, the exile community, and speak to them. Say to them: Thus says the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —whether they listen or not.” ", |
| "Then a spirit carried me away, and behind me I heard a great roaring sound: “Blessed is the Presence of G<small>OD</small>, in its place,”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>sound: “Blessed is the Presence of G<small>OD</small>, in its place” </b>Emendation yields “sound, as the Presence of G<small>OD</small> rose from where it stood.”</i> ", |
| "with the sound of the wings of the creatures beating against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them—a great roaring sound. ", |
| "A spirit seized me and carried me away. I went in bitterness, in the fury of my spirit, while G<small>OD</small>’s hand was strong upon me. ", |
| "And I came to the exile community that dwelt in Tel Abib by the Chebar Canal, and I remained where they dwelt. And for seven days I sat there stunned among them.", |
| "After those seven days, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "“O mortal, I appoint you lookout for the House of Israel; and when you hear a word from My mouth, you must warn them for Me. ", |
| "If I say to someone wicked, ‘You shall die,’ and you do not give warning—you do not speak to warn them<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>them </b>Heb. “the wicked one.”</i> of their wicked course in order to save their life—then that wicked one shall die for their own iniquity, while from you I will require a reckoning for their blood. ", |
| "But if you do warn someone wicked, and they do not turn back from their wickedness and their wicked course, they shall die for their iniquity, while you will have saved your own life. ", |
| "Again, if someone righteous abandons righteousness and does wrong—when I put a stumbling block before them—they shall die. They shall die for their sins; the righteous deeds that they did shall not be remembered; while from you, because you did not warn them, I will require a reckoning for their blood. ", |
| "If, however, you warn someone righteous not to sin, and that righteous one does not sin, they shall live because they took warning, while you will have saved your own life.”", |
| "Then G<small>OD</small>’s hand came upon me there, and I was told, “Arise, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.” ", |
| "I arose and went out to the valley, and there stood the Presence of G<small>OD</small>, like the Presence that I had seen at the Chebar Canal; and I flung myself down on my face. ", |
| "And a spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet. And [God] spoke to me, and said to me: “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ", |
| "As for you, O mortal, cords have been placed upon you, and you have been bound with them, and you shall not go out among the people.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the people </b>Heb. “them.”</i> ", |
| "And I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you shall be dumb; you shall not be a reprover to them, for they are a rebellious breed. ", |
| "But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> !’ Whoever listens will listen, and whoever does not will not—for they are a rebellious breed.”" |
| ], |
| [ |
| "“And you, O mortal, take a brick and put it in front of you, and incise on it a city, Jerusalem. ", |
| "Set up a siege against it, and build towers against it, and cast a mound against it; pitch camps against it, and bring up battering rams round about it. ", |
| "Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and set your face against it.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>set your face against it </b>I.e., adopt a hostile stance.</i> Thus it shall be under siege, you shall besiege it. This shall be an omen for the House of Israel.", |
| "“Then lie on your left side, and let it bear the punishment of the House of Israel;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>left…Israel </b>Since left and right also denote north and south (e.g., 16.46), respectively, the left side represents Israel, the northern kingdom, and the right side Judah, the southern kingdom.</i> for as many days as you lie on it you shall bear their punishment. ", |
| "For I impose upon you three hundred and ninety days, corresponding to the number of the years of their punishment; and so you shall bear the punishment for the House of Israel. ", |
| "When you have completed these, you shall lie another forty days on your right side, and bear the punishment of the House of Judah.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>right…Judah </b>See note at v. 4.</i> I impose on you one day for each year.", |
| "“Then, with bared arm, set your face toward besieged Jerusalem and prophesy against it. ", |
| "Now I put cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from side to side until you complete your days of siege.", |
| "“Further, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer. Put them into one vessel and bake them into bread. Eat it as many days as you lie on your side: three hundred and ninety. ", |
| "The food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; this you shall eat in the space of a day. ", |
| "And you shall drink water by measure; drink a sixth of a <i>hin</i> in the space of a day.", |
| "“Eat it as a barley<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>barley </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> cake; you shall bake it on human excrement before their eyes. ", |
| "So,” said G<small>OD</small>, “shall the people of Israel eat their bread, impure, among the nations to which I will banish them.” ", |
| "Then I said, “Ah, my Sovereign G<small>OD</small>, my person<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>person </b>Or “throat.”</i> was never defiled; nor have I eaten anything that died of itself or was torn by beasts from my youth until now, nor has foul flesh entered my mouth.” ", |
| "The answer came: “See, I allow you cow’s dung instead of human excrement; prepare your bread on that.”", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Resuming the thought of v. 11.</i> And I was told, “O mortal, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, in anxiety, and drink water by measure, in horror, ", |
| "so that, lacking bread and water, they shall stare at each other, heartsick over their iniquity." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "“And you, O mortal, take a sharp knife; use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and beard. Then take scales and divide the hair.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the hair </b>Lit. “them.”</i> ", |
| "When the days of siege are completed, destroy a third part in fire in the city, take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the city </b>Heb. “it.”</i> and scatter a third to the wind and unsheathe<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>unsheathe </b>Cf. v. 12; lit. “I will unsheathe.”</i> a sword after them.", |
| "“Take also a few [hairs] from there and tie them up in your skirts.", |
| "And take some more of them and cast them into the fire, and burn them in the fire. From this a fire shall go out upon the whole House of Israel.”", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I set this Jerusalem in the midst of nations, with countries round about her. ", |
| "But she rebelled against My rules and My laws, acting more wickedly than the nations and the countries round about her; she<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>she </b>Heb. “they.”</i> rejected My rules and disobeyed My laws. ", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you have outdone the nations that are round about you—you have not obeyed My laws or followed My rules, nor have you even observed the rules of the nations round about you— ", |
| "assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I, in turn, am going to deal with you, and I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. ", |
| "On account of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again.", |
| "Assuredly, parents shall eat their children in your midst, and children shall eat their parents. I will execute judgments against you, and I will scatter all your survivors in every direction.", |
| "Assuredly, as I live—said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —because you defiled My Sanctuary with all your detestable things and all your abominations, I in turn will shear [you] away<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>shear…away </b>Cf. Isa. 15.2 and Jer. 48.37; here an allusion to the symbolism in v. 1.</i> and show no pity. I in turn will show no compassion: ", |
| "One-third of you shall die of pestilence or perish in your midst by famine, one-third shall fall by the sword around you, and I will scatter one-third in every direction and will unsheathe the sword after them. ", |
| "I will vent all My anger and satisfy My fury upon them; and when I vent all My fury upon them, they shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken in My passion. ", |
| "I will make you a ruin and a mockery among the nations round about you, in the sight of every passerby. ", |
| "And when I execute judgment upon you in anger and rage and furious chastisement, you<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you </b>Heb. “she.”</i> shall be a mockery and a derision, a warning and a horror, to the nations round about you: I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken. ", |
| "When I loose the deadly arrows of famine against those doomed to destruction, when I loose them against you to destroy you, I will heap more famine upon you and break your staff of bread. ", |
| "I will let loose against you famine and wild beasts and they shall bereave you; pestilence and bloodshed shall sweep through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy to them ", |
| "and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to the mountains and the hills, to the streams and the valleys: See, I will bring a sword against you and destroy your shrines. ", |
| "Your altars shall be wrecked and your incense stands smashed, and I will hurl down your slain in front of your fetishes. ", |
| "I will cast the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their fetishes, and scatter your bones around your altars ", |
| "in all your settlements. The towns shall be laid waste and the shrines shall be devastated. Thus your altars shall be laid waste and bear their punishment;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>bear their punishment </b>Targum and other ancient versions read “shall be devastated.”</i> your fetishes shall be smashed and annihilated, your incense stands cut down, and your handiwork wiped out; ", |
| "and the slain shall fall in your midst. Then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Yet I will leave a remnant, in that some of you shall escape the sword among the nations and be scattered through the lands. ", |
| "And those of you that escape will remember Me among the nations where they have been taken captive, how I was brokenhearted through<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>how I was brokenhearted through </b>Emendation yields “how I broke.”</i> their faithless hearts that turned away from Me, and through their eyes that lusted after their fetishes. And they shall loathe themselves for all the evil they committed and for all their abominable deeds. ", |
| "Then they shall realize it was not without cause that I, G<small>OD</small>, resolved to bring this evil upon them.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry: Aha! over all the vile abominations of the House of Israel who shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. ", |
| "Those who are far away shall die of pestilence, and those who are nearby shall fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is protected shall die of famine. Thus I will spend My fury upon them. ", |
| "And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>, when your slain lie among the fetishes round about their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak—wherever they presented pleasing odors to all their fetishes.", |
| "I will stretch out My hand against them, and lay the land waste and desolate in all their settlements, from the wilderness as far as Diblah;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Diblah </b>A few Heb. mss. read “Riblah”; cf. 2 Kings 23.33; 25.6ff.</i> then they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "You, O mortal, [say:] Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to the land of Israel: Doom! Doom is coming upon the four corners of the land. ", |
| "Now doom is upon you! I will let loose My anger against you and judge you according to your ways; I will requite you for all your abominations.", |
| "I will show you no pity and no compassion; but I will requite you for your ways and for the abominations in your midst. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: A singular disaster; a disaster<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>A singular disaster; a disaster </b>A number of mss. and editions, as well as Targum, read “Disaster after disaster.”</i> is coming. ", |
| "Doom is coming! The hour of doom is coming! It stirs against you; there it comes!", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Meaning of verse uncertain.</i> The cycle has come around for you, O inhabitants of the land; the time has come; the day is near. There is panic on the mountains, not joy. ", |
| "Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you and spend My anger on you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will requite you for all your abominations. ", |
| "I will show you no pity and no compassion; but I will requite you for your ways, and for the abominations in your midst. And you shall know it was I, G<small>OD</small>, who punished.", |
| "Here is the day! See, the cycle has come round; it has appeared. The rod has blossomed; arrogance has budded, ", |
| "lawlessness has grown into a rod of wickedness. Nothing comes of them, nor of their abundance, nor of their wealth; nor is there preeminence among them.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>cycle has come round … among them </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn—for divine wrath shall overtake all Jerusalem’s<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Jerusalem’s </b>Heb. “her.”</i> multitude. ", |
| "For the seller shall not return to what was sold so long as both parties<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>both parties </b>Heb. “they.”</i> remain among the living. For the vision concerns all her multitude, it shall not be revoked. And because of their own guilt, none shall hold fast to their life.", |
| "They have sounded the horn, and all is prepared; but no one goes to battle, for My wrath is directed against all her multitude. ", |
| "The sword is outside and pestilence and famine are inside; those in the field shall die by the sword, those in the town shall be devoured by famine and pestilence. ", |
| "And if any survive, they shall take to the mountains; they shall be like doves of the valley, moaning together<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>like doves of the valley, moaning together </b>Emendation yields “like moaning doves. All of them shall perish.”</i> —everyone for their own iniquity. ", |
| "All hands shall grow weak, and all knees shall turn to water. ", |
| "They shall gird on sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; every face shall betray shame, and every head shall be made bald.", |
| "They shall throw their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be treated as something unclean. Their silver and gold shall not avail to save them in the day of G<small>OD</small>’s wrath—to satisfy their hunger or to fill their stomachs. Because they made them stumble into guilt— ", |
| "for out of their beautiful adornments, in which they took pride, they made their images and their detestable abominations—therefore I will make their adornments<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>their adornments </b>Heb. “it.”</i> a source of uncleanness to them. ", |
| "I will give them as spoil to strangers, and as plunder to the wicked of the earth; and they shall defile them. ", |
| "I will turn My face from them, and My treasures shall be defiled; ruffians shall invade it and defile it.", |
| "Forge the chain,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Forge the chain </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of lawlessness. ", |
| "I will bring in the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses; so shall I turn to naught the pride of the powerful, and their sanctuaries shall be defiled.", |
| "Horror<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Horror </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> comes, and they shall seek safety, but there shall be none. ", |
| "Calamity shall follow calamity, and rumor follow rumor. Then they shall seek vision from the prophet in vain; instruction shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. ", |
| "The king shall mourn, the prince<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the prince </b>Possibly denoting the king, as is usual in Ezekiel.</i> shall clothe himself with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble. I will treat them in accordance with their own ways and judge them according to their deserts. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting at home, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and there the hand of the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> fell upon me. ", |
| "As I looked, there was a figure that had the appearance of fire:<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>fire </b>Septuagint “a man.”</i> from what appeared as the loins down, [there was] fire; and from the loins up, the appearance was resplendent and had the color of amber. ", |
| "The form of a hand stretched out, and took me by the hair of my head. A spirit lifted me up between heaven and earth and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the Penimith<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Penimith </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> Gate that faces north; that was the site of the infuriating image that provokes fury. ", |
| "And the Presence of the God of Israel appeared there, like the vision that I had seen in the valley.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the vision that I had seen in the valley </b>See chap. 1 and 3.22–23.</i> ", |
| "And I was told, “O mortal, turn your eyes northward.” I turned my eyes northward, and there, north of the gate of the altar, was<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>north of the gate of the altar, was </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “north of the gate was the altar of.”</i> that infuriating image on the approach.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>approach </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "And [God] said to me, “Mortal, do you see what they are doing, the terrible abominations that the House of Israel is practicing here, to drive Me far<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>to drive Me far </b>Or “at a distance.”</i> from My Sanctuary? You shall yet see even greater abominations!”", |
| "Then [God] brought me to the entrance of the court;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the court </b>I.e., the outer court of the temple.</i> and I looked, and there was a hole in the wall. ", |
| "I was told, “Mortal, break through the wall”; so I broke through the wall and found an entrance. ", |
| "And I was told, “Enter and see the vile abominations that they are practicing here.” ", |
| "I entered and looked, and there all detestable forms of creeping things and beasts and all the fetishes of the House of Israel were depicted over the entire wall. ", |
| "Before them stood seventy of the elders of the House of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst. Everyone had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense smoke ascended. ", |
| "Again [God] spoke to me, “O mortal, have you seen what the elders of the House of Israel are doing in the darkness, everyone in his image-covered chamber? For they say, ‘G<small>OD</small> does not see us; G<small>OD</small> has abandoned the country.’” ", |
| "And [God]said to me, “You shall see even more terrible abominations that they practice.”", |
| "Next [God] brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the House of G<small>OD</small>;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>gate of the House of G<small>OD</small> </b>I.e., the gate of the inner court.</i> and there sat the women bewailing Tammuz.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Tammuz </b>A Babylonian god.</i> ", |
| "I was told, “Have you seen, O mortal? You shall see even more terrible abominations than these.”", |
| "Then [God] brought me into the inner court of the House of G<small>OD</small>, and there, at the entrance to the Temple of G<small>OD</small>, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men, their backs to the Temple of G<small>OD</small> and their faces to the east; they were bowing low to the sun in the east. ", |
| "And I was told, “Do you see, O mortal? Is it not enough for the House of Judah to practice the abominations that they have committed here, that they must fill the country with lawlessness and provoke Me still further and thrust the branch to their nostrils?<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>thrust the branch to their nostrils </b>Apparently meaning “goad Me to fury”; “their” is a euphemism for “My.”</i> ", |
| "I in turn will act with fury, I will show no pity or compassion; though they cry aloud to Me, I will not listen to them.”" |
| ], |
| [ |
| "Then [God] called loudly in my hearing, saying, “Approach, you who are in charge of the city, each bearing his weapons of destruction!” ", |
| "And six figures entered by way of the upper gate that faces north, each with his club in his hand; and among them was another one, clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. They came forward and stopped at the bronze altar. ", |
| "Now the Presence of the God of Israel had moved from the cherub on which it had rested to the platform<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the platform </b>The raised platform on which the temple stood; cf. 47.1.</i> of the House. The figure clothed in linen with the writing case at his waist was summoned; ", |
| "and G<small>OD</small> said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the persons who moan and groan because of all the abominations that are committed in it.” ", |
| "The others were told in my hearing, “Follow him through the city and strike; show no pity or compassion. ", |
| "Kill off graybeard, youth and maiden, women and children; but do not touch any person who bears the mark. Begin here at My Sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the House. ", |
| "And [God] said to them, “Defile the House and fill the courts with the slain. Then go forth.” So they went forth and began to kill in the city. ", |
| "When they were out killing, and I remained alone, I flung myself on my face and cried out, “Ah, my Sovereign G<small>OD</small> ! Are you going to annihilate all that is left of Israel, pouring out Your fury upon Jerusalem?” ", |
| "The answer came, “The iniquity of the Houses of Judah and Israel is very very great, the land is full of crime and the city is full of corruption. For they say, ‘G<small>OD</small> has forsaken the land, and G<small>OD</small> does not see.’ ", |
| "I, in turn, will show no pity or compassion; I will give them their deserts.” ", |
| "And then the one clothed in linen with the writing case at his waist brought back word, saying, “I have done as You commanded me.”" |
| ], |
| [ |
| "I looked, and on the expanse over the heads of the cherubs, there was something like a sapphire stone; an appearance resembling a throne could be seen over them. ", |
| "[God] spoke to the figure clothed in linen and said, “Step inside the wheelwork, under the cherubs, and fill your hands with glowing coals from among the cherubs, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I looked on. ", |
| "Now the cherubs were standing on the south side of the House when that figure entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. ", |
| "But when the Presence of G<small>OD</small> moved from the cherubs to the platform<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>platform </b>See note at 47.1.</i> of the House, the House was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the radiance of the Presence of G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "The sound of the cherubs’ wings could be heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of El Shaddai<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Shaddai </b>See note at Gen. 17.1.</i> when speaking.", |
| "When [God] commanded the figure clothed in linen: “Take fire from among the cherubs within the wheelwork,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. ", |
| "And a cherub stretched out a hand among the cherubs to the fire that was among the cherubs; he took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ", |
| "The cherubs appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings.", |
| "I could see that there were four wheels beside the cherubs, one wheel beside each of the cherubs; as for the appearance of the wheels, they gleamed like the beryl stone. ", |
| "In appearance, the four had the same form, as if there were two wheels cutting through each other. ", |
| "And when they moved, each could move in the direction of any of its four quarters; they did not veer as they moved. The [cherubs] moved in the direction in which one of the heads faced, without turning as they moved. ", |
| "Their entire bodies—backs, hands, and wings—and the wheels, the wheels of the four of them, were covered all over with eyes. ", |
| "It was these wheels that I had heard called “the wheelwork.”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the wheelwork </b>See v. 2.</i> ", |
| "Each one had four faces: One was a cherub’s face, the second a human face, the third a lion’s face, and the fourth an eagle’s face.", |
| "The cherubs ascended; those were the creatures that I had seen by the Chebar Canal.", |
| "Whenever the cherubs went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubs lifted their wings to ascend from the earth, the wheels did not roll away from their side. ", |
| "When those stood still, these stood still; and when those ascended, these ascended with them, for the spirit of the creature was in them.", |
| "Then the Presence of G<small>OD</small> left the platform<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>platform </b>See note at 47.1.</i> of the House and stopped above the cherubs. ", |
| "And I saw the cherubs lift their wings and rise from the earth, with the wheels beside them as they departed; and they<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>they </b>Lit. “it.”</i> stopped at the entrance of the eastern gate of the House of G<small>OD</small>, with the Presence of the God of Israel above them. ", |
| "They were the same creatures that I had seen below the God of Israel at the Chebar Canal; so now I knew that they were cherubs.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I knew that they were cherubs </b>Because they had been called “cherubs” (cf. v. 2).</i> ", |
| "Each one had four faces and each had four wings, with the form of human hands under the wings. ", |
| "As for the form of their faces, they were the very faces that I had seen by the Chebar Canal—their appearance and their features<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>their features </b>Lit. “themselves.”</i> —and each could move in the direction of any of its faces." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "Then a spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the House of G<small>OD</small>, which faces eastward; and there, at the entrance of the gate, were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ", |
| "[ G<small>OD</small> ] said to me, “O mortal, these are the men who plan iniquity and plot wickedness in this city, ", |
| "who say: ‘There is no need now to build houses; this [city] is the pot, and we are the meat.’<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>this [city] is the pot, and we are the meat </b>I.e., the exiles will not return.</i> ", |
| "I adjure you, prophesy against them; prophesy, O mortal!”", |
| "Thereupon the spirit of G<small>OD</small> fell upon me, and I was told, “Speak: Thus said G<small>OD</small>: Such are your thoughts, O House of Israel; I know what comes into your mind. ", |
| "Many have you slain in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.", |
| "Assuredly, thus says the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: The corpses that you have piled up in it are the meat for which it is the pot; but you shall be taken out of it. ", |
| "You feared the sword, and the sword I will bring upon you—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "I will take you out of it and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and I will execute judgments upon you. ", |
| "You shall fall by the sword; I will punish you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "This [city] shall not be a pot for you, nor you the meat in it; I will punish you at the border of Israel. ", |
| "Then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>, whose laws you did not follow and whose rules you did not obey, acting instead according to the rules of the nations around you.”", |
| "Now, as I prophesied, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I threw myself upon my face and cried out aloud, “Ah, my Sovereign G<small>OD</small> ! You are wiping out the remnant of Israel!”", |
| "Then the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "“O mortal, [I will save] your kinsfolk, your relatives—your next of kin<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>your next of kin </b>I.e., the exiles.</i> —all of that very House of Israel to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem say, ‘Keep far from G<small>OD</small>; the land has been given as a heritage to us.’ ", |
| "Say then: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I have indeed removed them far among the nations and have scattered them among the countries, and I have become to them a diminished sanctity in the countries whither they have gone. ", |
| "Yet say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will gather you<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you </b>I.e., the exiles.</i> from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the Land of Israel. ", |
| "And they shall return there, and do away with all its detestable things and all its abominations. ", |
| "I will give them one heart and put a new spirit in them;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>them </b>Heb. “you.”</i> I will remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, ", |
| "that they may follow My laws and faithfully observe My rules. Then they shall be My people and I will be their God.", |
| "But as for them whose heart is set upon their detestable things and their abominations, I will repay them for their conduct—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.”", |
| "Then the cherubs, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings, while the Presence of the God of Israel rested above them. ", |
| "The Presence of G<small>OD</small> ascended from the midst of the city and stood on the hill east of the city.", |
| "A spirit carried me away and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God to the exile community in Chaldea. Then the vision that I had seen left me, ", |
| "and I told the exiles all the things that G<small>OD</small> had shown me." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, you dwell among the rebellious breed. They have eyes to see but see not, ears to hear but hear not; for they are a rebellious breed. ", |
| "Therefore, mortal, get yourself gear for exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. Go into exile from your home to another place before their very eyes; perhaps they will take note, even though they are a rebellious breed. ", |
| "Carry out your gear as gear for exile by day before their very eyes; and go out again in the evening before their eyes, as one who goes out into exile. ", |
| "Before their eyes, break through the wall and carry [the gear] out through it; ", |
| "before their eyes, carry it on your shoulder. Take it out in the dark, and cover your face that you may not see the land; for I make you a portent to the House of Israel.", |
| "I did just as I was ordered: I took out my gear by day as gear for exile, and in the evening I broke through the wall with my own hands.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with my own hands </b>Lit. “by hand.”</i> In the darkness I carried [the gear] out on my shoulder, carrying it before their eyes.", |
| "In the morning, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, did not the House of Israel, that rebellious breed, ask you, “What are you doing?” ", |
| "Say to them: “Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: This pronouncement concerns the prince<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>prince </b>I.e., the king of Judah, presumably Zedekiah; cf. Rashi, Kimhi.</i> in Jerusalem and all the House of Israel who are in it.” ", |
| "Say: “I am a portent for you: As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. ", |
| "And the prince among them shall carry his gear on his shoulder as he goes out in the dark. He<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>He </b>Heb. “They.”</i> shall break through the wall in order to carry [his gear] out through it; he shall cover his face, because he himself shall not see the land with his eyes.” ", |
| "I will spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he shall not see it;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>he shall not see it </b>Cf. 2 Kings 25.7.</i> and there he shall die. ", |
| "And all those around him, his helpers and all his troops, I will scatter in every direction; and I will unsheathe the sword after them. ", |
| "Then, when I have scattered them among the nations and dispersed them through the countries, they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "But I will spare a few of them from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may recount all their abominable deeds among the nations to which they come; and they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small> !", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, eat your bread in trembling and drink your water in fear and anxiety. ", |
| "And say to the people of the land: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in anxiety and drink their water in desolation, because their land will be desolate of its multitudes on account of the lawlessness of all its inhabitants. ", |
| "The inhabited towns shall be laid waste and the land shall become a desolation; then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, that you say, “The days grow many and every vision comes to naught?” ", |
| "Assuredly, say to them, Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will put an end to this proverb; it shall not be used in Israel anymore. Speak rather to them: The days draw near, and the fulfillment of every vision. ", |
| "For there shall no longer be any false vision or soothing divination in the House of Israel.", |
| "But whenever I, G<small>OD</small>, speak what I speak, that word shall be fulfilled without any delay; in your days, O rebellious breed, I will fulfill every word I speak—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "See, O mortal, the House of Israel says, “The vision that he sees is far ahead, and he prophesies for the distant future.” ", |
| "Assuredly, say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: There shall be no more delay; whenever I speak a word, that word shall be fulfilled—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy; say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of G<small>OD</small> ! ", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Woe to the degenerate prophets, who follow their own fancy, without having had a vision! ", |
| "Your prophets, O Israel, have been like jackals among ruins. ", |
| "You did not enter the breaches and repair the walls for the House of Israel, that they might stand up in battle in the day of G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "They prophesied falsehood and lying divination; they said, “Declares G<small>OD</small>,” when G<small>OD</small> did not send them, and then they waited for their word to be fulfilled. ", |
| "It was false visions you prophesied and lying divination you uttered, saying, “Declares G<small>OD</small>,” when I had not spoken.", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you speak falsehood and prophesy lies, assuredly, I will deal with you—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "My hand will be against the prophets who prophesy falsehood and utter lying divination. They shall not remain in the assembly of My people, they shall not be inscribed in the lists of the House of Israel, and they shall not come back to the land of Israel. Thus shall you know that I am the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Inasmuch as they have misled My people, saying, “It is well,” when nothing is well, daubing with plaster the flimsy wall that the people<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the people </b>Heb. “it.”</i> were building, ", |
| "say to those daubers of plaster: It shall collapse; a driving rain shall descend—and you, O great hailstones, shall fall—and a hurricane wind shall rend it. ", |
| "Then, when the wall collapses, you will be asked, “What became of the plaster you daubed on?”", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: In My fury I will let loose hurricane winds; in My anger a driving rain shall descend, and great hailstones in destructive fury. ", |
| "I will throw down the wall that you daubed with plaster, and I will raze it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed; and when it falls, you shall perish in its midst; then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "And when I have spent My fury upon the wall and upon those who daubed it with plaster, I will say to you: Gone is the wall and gone are its daubers, ", |
| "the prophets of Israel who prophesy about Jerusalem and see a vision of well-being for her when there is no well-being—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "And you, O mortal, set your face against the women of your people, who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ", |
| "and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Woe to those who sew pads<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>pads </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> on all arm-joints and make bonnets<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>bonnets </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> for the head of every person, in order to entrap! Can you hunt down lives among My people, while you preserve your own lives? ", |
| "You have profaned My name<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>My name </b>Heb. “Me.”</i> among My people in return for handfuls of barley and morsels of bread; you have announced the death of persons who will not die and the survival of persons who will not live—lying to My people, who listen to your lies.", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deal with your pads,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>pads </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> by which<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>by which </b>Heb. “where.”</i> you hunt down lives like birds, and I will tear them from your arms and free the persons whose lives you hunt down like birds. ", |
| "I will tear off your bonnets<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>bonnets </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and rescue My people from your hands, and they shall no longer be prey in your hands; then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Because you saddened the heart of the innocent with lies, when I would not inflict suffering on them, and encouraged the wicked not to repent of their evil ways and so gain life— ", |
| "assuredly, you shall no longer prophesy lies or practice divination! I will save My people from your hands, and you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.", |
| "And the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, these men have turned their thoughts upon their fetishes and set their minds upon the sin through which they stumbled: Shall I respond to their inquiry? ", |
| "Now speak to them and tell them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: If anyone at all of the House of Israel turns their thoughts upon their fetishes and sets their mind upon the sin through which they stumbled, and yet comes to the prophet, I, G<small>OD</small>, will respond as they come with<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>as they come with </b>Emendation yields “directly, because of”; cf. v. 7.</i> their multitude of fetishes. ", |
| "Thus I will hold the House of Israel to account for their thoughts, because they have all been estranged from Me through their fetishes.", |
| "Now say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Repent, and turn back from your fetishes and turn your minds away from all your abominations. ", |
| "For if anyone at all of the House of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, breaks away from Me and turns their thoughts upon their fetishes and sets their mind upon the sins through which they stumbled, and then goes to the prophet to inquire of Me through him, I, G<small>OD</small>, will respond directly. ", |
| "I will set My face against that party and make them a sign and a byword, and I will cut them off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "And if a prophet is seduced and does speak a word [to such people], it was I, G<small>OD</small>, who seduced that prophet; I will stretch out My hand and destroy that prophet<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>that prophet </b>Heb. “him.”</i> from among My people Israel. ", |
| "Thus they shall bear their punishment: The punishment of the inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same, ", |
| "so that the House of Israel may never again stray from Me and defile itself with all its transgressions. Then they shall be My people and I will be their God—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, if a land were to sin against Me and commit a trespass, and I stretched out My hand against it and broke its staff of bread, and sent famine against it and cut off human and animal from it, ", |
| "even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—should be in it, they would by their righteousness save only themselves—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Or, if I were to send wild beasts to roam the land and they depopulated it, and it became a desolation with none passing through it because of the beasts, ", |
| "as I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —those three men in it would save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would become a desolation. ", |
| "Or, if I were to bring the sword upon that land and say, “Let a sword sweep through the land so that I may cut off from it human and animal,” ", |
| "if those three men should be in it, as I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —they would save neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be saved. ", |
| "Or, if I let loose a pestilence against that land, and poured out My fury upon it in blood, cutting off from it human and animal, ", |
| "should Noah, Daniel, and Job be in it, as I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save themselves alone by their righteousness.", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: How much less [should any escape] now that I have let loose against Jerusalem all four of My terrible punishments—the sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence—to cut off human and animal from it! ", |
| "Yet there are survivors left of it, sons and daughters who are being brought out.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>sons and daughters who are being brought out </b>Several ancient versions read “who are bringing out sons and daughters.”</i> They are coming out to you; and when you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem, for all that I brought on it. ", |
| "You will be consoled through them, when you see their ways and their deeds and realize that not without cause did I do all that I did in it—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, how is the wood of the grapevine better than the wood of any branch to be found among the trees of the forest? ", |
| "Can wood be taken from it for use in any work? Can one take a peg from it to hang any vessel on?", |
| "Now suppose it was thrown into the fire as fuel and the fire consumed its two ends and its middle was charred—is it good for any use?", |
| "Even when it was whole it could not be used for anything; how much less when fire has consumed it and it is charred! Can it still be used for anything?", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have designated to be fuel for fire, so will I treat the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ", |
| "I will set My face against them; they escaped from fire, but fire shall consume them. When I set my face against them, you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "I will make the land a desolation, because they committed trespass—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, proclaim Jerusalem’s abominations to her, ", |
| "and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you are from the land of the Canaanites—your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.", |
| "As for your birth, when you were born your navel cord was not cut, and you were not bathed in water to smooth you;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>smooth you </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> you were not rubbed with salt, nor were you swaddled. ", |
| "No one pitied you enough to do any one of these things for you out of compassion for you; on the day you were born, you were left lying, rejected, in the open field. ", |
| "When I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you: “Live despite your blood.” Yea, I said to you: “Live despite your blood.”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Yea, I said to you: “Live despite your blood.” </b>This sentence is missing from some ancient versions and a few Heb. mss.</i> ", |
| "I let you grow like the plants of the field; and you continued to grow up until you attained to womanhood,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>to womanhood </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> until your breasts became firm and your hair sprouted.<br>You were still naked and bare ", |
| "when I passed by you [again] and saw that your time for love had arrived. So I spread My robe over you<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>So I spread My robe over you </b>An act symbolizing espousal; cf. note at Deut. 23.1; Ruth 3.9.</i> and covered your nakedness, and I entered into a covenant with you by oath—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>; thus you became Mine. ", |
| "I bathed you in water, and washed the blood off you, and anointed you with oil. ", |
| "I clothed you with embroidered garments, and gave you sandals of dolphin leather<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>dolphin leather </b>Or leather of a certain dyed hue. Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> to wear, and wound fine linen about your head, and dressed you in silks. ", |
| "I decked you out in finery and put bracelets on your arms and a chain around your neck.", |
| "I put a ring in your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a splendid crown on your head. ", |
| "You adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your apparel was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. Your food was choice flour, honey, and oil. You grew more and more beautiful, and became fit for royalty. ", |
| "Your beauty won you fame among the nations, for it was perfected through the splendor that I set upon you—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "But confident in your beauty and fame, you played the whore: you lavished your favors on every passerby; they were his.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>they were his </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "You even took some of your cloths and made yourself tapestried platforms<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>tapestried platforms </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and fornicated on them—not in the future; not in time to come.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>not in the future; not in time to come </b>See note at Exod. 25.4.</i> ", |
| "You took your beautiful things, made of the gold and silver that I had given you, and you made yourself phallic images and fornicated with them. ", |
| "You took your embroidered cloths to cover them; and you set My oil and My incense before them.", |
| "The food that I had given you—the choice flour, the oil, and the honey that I had provided for you to eat—you set it before them for a pleasing odor.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>for a pleasing odor </b>I.e., as a sacrifice; cf. Lev. 2.2.</i> And so it went—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "You even took the sons and daughters that you bore to Me and sacrificed them to those [images] as food—as if your whorings were not enough, ", |
| "you slaughtered My children and presented them as offerings to them!", |
| "In all your abominations and whorings, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and lay wallowing in your blood.", |
| "After all your wickedness (woe, woe to you!)—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> — ", |
| "you built yourself an eminence and made yourself a mound in every square.", |
| "You built your mound at every crossroad; and you sullied your beauty and spread your legs to every passerby, and you multiplied your whoredoms. ", |
| "You played the whore with your neighbors, the lustful<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>lustful </b>Lit. “big of phallus”; cf. 23.20.</i> Egyptians—you multiplied your whoredoms to anger Me. ", |
| "Now, I will stretch out My arm against you and withhold your maintenance; and I will surrender you to the will of your enemies, the Philistine women, who are shocked by your lewd behavior.", |
| "In your insatiable lust you also played the whore with the Assyrians; you played the whore with them, but were still unsated. ", |
| "You multiplied your whoredoms with Chaldea, that land of traders; yet even with this you were not satisfied.", |
| "How sick was your heart<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>How sick was your heart </b>Change of vocalization yields “How furious I was with you”; lit. “How I was filled with your fury” (<i>libbat</i>, as in Akkadian and Old Aramaic).</i> —declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —when you did all those things, the acts of a self-willed whore, ", |
| "building your eminence at every crossroad and setting your mound in every square! Yet you were not like a prostitute, for you spurned fees; ", |
| "[you were like] the adulterous wife who welcomes strangers instead of her husband.", |
| "Gifts are made to all prostitutes, but you made gifts to all your lovers, and bribed them to come to you from every quarter for your whoring. ", |
| "You were the opposite of other women: you solicited instead of being solicited; you paid fees instead of being paid fees. Thus you were just the opposite!", |
| "Now, O whore, hear the word of G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because of your brazen effrontery, offering your nakedness to your lovers for whoring—just like the blood of your children, which you gave to all your abominable fetishes:<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>just like the blood of your children, which you gave to all your abominable fetishes </b>Construction of Heb. uncertain.</i> — ", |
| "I will assuredly assemble all the lovers to whom you gave your favors, along with everybody you accepted and everybody you rejected. I will assemble them against you from every quarter, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they shall see all your nakedness. ", |
| "I will inflict upon you the punishment of women who commit adultery and murder, and I will direct bloody and impassioned fury against you. ", |
| "I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall tear down your eminence and level your mounds; and they shall strip you of your clothing and take away your dazzling jewels, leaving you naked and bare. ", |
| "Then they shall assemble a mob against you to pelt you with stones and pierce you with their swords.", |
| "They shall put your houses to the flames and execute punishment upon you in the sight of many women; thus I will put a stop to your whoring, and you shall pay no more fees. ", |
| "When I have satisfied My fury upon you and My rage has departed from you, then I will be tranquil; I will be angry no more.", |
| "Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but infuriated Me with all those things, I will pay you back for your conduct<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>will pay you back for your conduct </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> —declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.<br>Have you not committed depravity on top of all your other abominations? ", |
| "Why, everyone who uses proverbs applies to you the proverb “Like mother, like daughter.” ", |
| "You are the daughter of your mother, who rejected her husband and children. And you are the sister of your sisters, who rejected their husbands and children; for you are daughters of a Hittite mother and an Amorite father. ", |
| "Your elder sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to the south of you. ", |
| "Did you not walk in their ways and practice their abominations? Why, you were almost<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>almost </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> more corrupt than they in all your ways. ", |
| "As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do what you and your daughters did.", |
| "Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility; yet she did not support the poor and the needy.", |
| "In their haughtiness, they committed abomination before Me; and so I removed them, as you saw.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">o</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you saw </b>Construed as second-person feminine; cf. <i>qere</i>, vv. 47 and 51; and see above vv. 13, 18, 22, 31, 43.</i> ", |
| "Nor did Samaria commit even half your sins. You committed more abominations than they, and by all the abominations that you committed you made your sisters look righteous. ", |
| "Truly, you must bear the disgrace of serving as your sisters’ advocate: Since you have sinned more abominably than they, they appear righteous in comparison. So be ashamed and bear your disgrace, because you have made your sisters look righteous.", |
| "I will restore their fortunes—the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters—and your fortunes along with theirs.", |
| "Thus you shall bear your disgrace and feel your disgrace for behaving in such a way that they could take comfort.", |
| "Then your sister Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state. ", |
| "Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the days of your pride, ", |
| "before your own wickedness was exposed? So must you now bear the mockery of the daughters of Aram<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">p</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Aram </b>Many Heb. mss. and editions read “Edom.”</i> and all her neighbors, the daughters of Philistia who jeer at you on every side. ", |
| "You yourself must bear your depravity and your abominations—declares G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Truly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will deal with you as you have dealt, for you have spurned the pact and violated the covenant. ", |
| "Nevertheless, I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish it with you as an everlasting covenant. ", |
| "You shall remember your ways and feel ashamed, when you receive your older sisters and your younger sisters, and I give them to you as daughters, though they are not of your covenant. ", |
| "I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Thus you shall remember and feel shame, and you shall be too abashed to open your mouth again, when I have forgiven you for all that you did—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, propound a riddle and relate an allegory to the House of Israel. ", |
| "Say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: The great eagle with the great wings and the long pinions, with the full plumage and the brilliant colors,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with the full plumage and the brilliant colors </b>This description suggests the golden eagle; the vulture, called by the same word in Heb. (<i>nesher</i>), has a bald head (Mic. 1.16) and dark feathers.</i> came to the Lebanon range and seized the top of the cedar. ", |
| "He plucked off its topmost bough and carried it off to the land of traders<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>traders </b>Cf. 16.29.</i> and set it in a city of merchants. ", |
| "He then took some of the seed of the land<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>land </b>Emendation yields “cedar.”</i> and planted it in a fertile field; he planted and set it like a willow<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>he planted and set it like a willow </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> beside abundant waters. ", |
| "It grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; it became a vine, produced branches, and sent out boughs. [He had intended] that its twigs should turn to him, and that its roots should stay under him.", |
| "But there was another great eagle with great wings and full plumage; and this vine now bent its roots in his direction and sent out its twigs toward him, that he might water it more than the bed where it was planted— ", |
| "though it was planted in rich soil beside abundant water—so that it might grow branches and produce boughs and be a noble vine.", |
| "Say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Will it thrive? Will he<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>he </b>I.e., the first eagle.</i> not tear out its roots and rip off its crown, so that its entire foliage withers? It shall wither, despite any strong arm or mighty army [that may come] to remove it from its roots. ", |
| "And suppose it is transplanted, will it thrive? When the east wind strikes it, it shall wither—wither upon the bed where it is growing.", |
| "Then the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "Say to the rebellious breed: Do you not know what these things mean? Say: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and carried away its king<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>its king </b>I.e., Jehoiachin, exiled to Babylonia in 597 B<small>CE</small>.</i> and its officers and brought them back with him to Babylon. ", |
| "He took one of the seed royal<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>one of the seed royal </b>I.e., Zedekiah.</i> and made a covenant with him and imposed an oath on him, and he carried away the nobles of the land— ", |
| "so that it might be a humble kingdom and not exalt itself, but keep his covenant and so endure.", |
| "But [that prince] rebelled against him and sent his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Shall he break a covenant and escape?", |
| "As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —in the very homeland of the king who made him king, whose oath he flouted and whose covenant he broke—right there, in Babylon, he shall die. ", |
| "Pharaoh will not fight at his side with a great army and with numerous troops in the war, when mounds are thrown up and siege towers erected to destroy many lives. ", |
| "He flouted a pact and broke a covenant; he gave his promise and did all these things—he shall not escape.", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: As I live, I will pay him back for flouting My pact and breaking My covenant. ", |
| "I will spread My net over him and he shall be caught in My snare; I will carry him to Babylon and enter with him into judgment there for the trespass that he committed against Me.", |
| "And all the fugitives<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>fugitives </b>Many mss. read “elite troops.”</i> of all his battalions shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall scatter in every direction; then you will know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Then I in turn will take and set [in the ground a slip] from the lofty top of the cedar; I will pluck a tender twig from the tip of its crown, and I will plant it on a tall, towering mountain. ", |
| "I will plant it in Israel’s lofty highlands, and it shall bring forth boughs and produce branches<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>branches </b>In contrast to others “fruit.”</i> and grow into a noble cedar. Every bird of every feather shall take shelter under it, shelter in the shade of its boughs. ", |
| "Then shall all the trees of the field know that it is I, G<small>OD</small>, who have abased the lofty tree and exalted the lowly tree, who have dried up the green tree and made the withered tree bud. I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken, and I will act." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "What do you mean by quoting this proverb upon the soil of Israel, “Parents eat sour grapes and their children’s teeth are blunted”?<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>blunted </b>In contrast to others “set on edge.”</i> ", |
| "As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —this proverb shall no longer be current among you in Israel.", |
| "Consider, all lives are Mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child are both Mine. Only the person who sins shall die.", |
| "Thus, if a certain man is righteous and does what is just and right: ", |
| "If he has not eaten on the mountains<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on the mountains </b>I.e., in idolatry. Emendation yields “with the blood”; cf. 33.25; Lev. 17.10–11; 19.26.</i> or raised his eyes to the fetishes of the House of Israel; if he has not defiled another man’s wife or approached a menstruous woman; ", |
| "if he has wronged no one at all; if he has returned the debtor’s pledge to him and has taken nothing by robbery; if he has given bread to the hungry and clothed the naked;", |
| "if he has not lent at advance interest or exacted accrued interest;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>advance interest or…accrued interest </b>I.e., interest deducted in advance or interest added at the time of repayment; cf. Lev. 25.36.</i> if he has abstained from wrongdoing and executed true justice between one party and the other; ", |
| "if he has followed My laws and kept My rules and acted honestly—he is righteous. Such a person shall live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Suppose, now, that he has begotten a son who is a ruffian, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>does any of these things </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "whereas he himself did none of these things. That is, [the son] has eaten on the mountains,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on the mountains </b>See note at v. 6.</i> has defiled another man’s wife, ", |
| "has wronged the poor and the needy, has taken by robbery, has not returned a pledge, has raised his eyes to the fetishes, has committed abomination, ", |
| "has lent at advance interest, or exacted accrued interest—shall he live? He shall not live! If he has committed any of these abominations, he shall die; he has forfeited his life.", |
| "Now suppose that he, in turn, has begotten a son who has seen all the sins that his father committed, but has taken heed and has not imitated them: ", |
| "He has not eaten upon the mountains<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>upon the mountains </b>See note at v. 6.</i> or raised his eyes to the fetishes of the House of Israel; he has not defiled another man’s wife; ", |
| "he has wronged no one at all; he has not seized a pledge or taken anything by robbery; he has given his bread to the hungry and clothed the naked;", |
| "he has refrained from oppressing the poor;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>refrained from oppressing the poor </b>Lit. “turned his hand back from the poor.” Emendation yields “abstained from wrongdoing”; cf. v. 8.</i> he has not exacted advance or accrued interest; he has obeyed My rules and followed My laws—he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, but shall live. ", |
| "To be sure, his father, because he practiced fraud, robbed his kin, and acted wickedly among his people, did die for his iniquity; ", |
| "and now you ask, “Why has not the son shared the burden of his father’s guilt?” But the son has done what is right and just, and has carefully kept all My laws: he shall live!", |
| "Only the person who sins shall die. A child shall not share the burden of a parent’s guilt, nor shall a parent share the burden of a child’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous shall be accounted to them alone, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be accounted to them alone.", |
| "Moreover, if someone wicked repents of all the sins that were committed and keeps all My laws and does what is just and right, they shall live; they shall not die. ", |
| "None of the transgressions they committed shall be remembered against them; because of the righteousness they have practiced, they shall live. ", |
| "Is it my desire that the wicked shall die?—says the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. It is rather that they shall turn back from their ways and live.", |
| "So, too, if someone righteous turns away from righteousness and does wrong, practicing the very abominations that the wicked person practiced, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they did shall be remembered; because of the treachery they have practiced and the sins they have committed—because of these, they shall die.", |
| "Yet you say, “The Sovereign’s way is unfair.” Listen, O House of Israel: Is My way unfair? It is your ways that are unfair! ", |
| "When someone righteous turns away from righteousness and does wrong, they shall die for it; they shall die for the wrong that was done. ", |
| "And if someone wicked turns back from the wickedness that is practiced and does what is just and right, they shall save their life. ", |
| "Because they took heed and turned back from all the transgressions that they committed, they shall live; they shall not die.", |
| "Yet the House of Israel say, “The Sovereign’s way is unfair.” Are My ways unfair, O House of Israel? It is your ways that are unfair! ", |
| "Be assured, O House of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to your own ways—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. Repent and turn back from all your transgressions; let them not be a stumbling block of guilt for you. ", |
| "Cast away all the transgressions by which you have offended, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, that you may not die, O House of Israel. ", |
| "For it is not My desire that anyone shall die—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. Repent, therefore, and live!" |
| ], |
| [ |
| "And you are to intone a dirge over the princes<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the princes </b>I.e., the kings who reigned after Josiah.</i> of Israel, ", |
| "and say:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">What a lioness was your mother</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Among the lions!</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Crouching among the great beasts,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She reared her cubs.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She raised up one of her cubs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He became a great beast;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He learned to hunt prey—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He devoured people.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Nations heeded [the call] against him;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He was caught in their snare.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They dragged him off with hooks</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To the land of Egypt.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When she saw herself frustrated,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Her hope defeated,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She took another of her cubs</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And set him up as a great beast.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He stalked among the lions,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He was a great beast;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He learned to hunt prey—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He devoured people.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He raped their widows,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>raped their widows </b>Emendation yields “ravaged their castles.”</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Laid waste their cities;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The land and all in it were appalled</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">At the sound of his roaring.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Nations from the countries round about</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Arrayed themselves against him.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They spread their net over him,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He was caught in their snare.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With hooks he was put in a cage,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They carried him off to the king of Babylon</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And confined him in a fortress,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">So that never again should his roar be heard</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On the hills of Israel.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your mother was like a vine in your blood,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>in your blood </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “in a vineyard.”</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Planted beside streams,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With luxuriant boughs and branches</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thanks to abundant waters.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And she had a mighty rod</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>rod </b>Heb. plural.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Fit for a ruler’s scepter.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>scepter </b>Heb. plural.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">It towered highest among the leafy trees,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>among the leafy trees </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">It was conspicuous by its height,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By the abundance of its boughs.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">But plucked up in a fury,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She was hurled to the ground.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The east wind withered her branches,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They broke apart and dried up;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And her mighty rod was consumed by fire.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Now she is planted in the desert,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In ground that is arid and parched.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Fire has issued from her twig-laden branch</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And has consumed her boughs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She is left without a mighty rod,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">A scepter to rule with.</span><br>This is a dirge, and it has become a [familiar] dirge." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, certain elders of Israel came to inquire of G<small>OD</small>, and sat down before me. ", |
| "And the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, I will not respond to your inquiry—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Arraign, arraign them, O mortal!<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Arraign, arraign them, O mortal! </b>Lit. “Will you arraign them, will you arraign, O mortal?”</i> Declare to them the abhorrent deeds of their ancestors. ", |
| "Say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br>On the day that I chose Israel, I gave My oath<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>gave My oath </b>Lit. “raised My hand.”</i> to the stock of the House of Jacob; when I made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I gave my oath to them. When I said, “I the E<small>TERNAL</small> am your God,” ", |
| "that same day I swore to them to take them out of the land of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey, a land that I had sought out for them, the fairest of all lands.", |
| "I also said to them: Cast away, every one of you, the detestable things that you are drawn to,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>that you are drawn to </b>Lit. “of his eyes.”</i> and do not defile yourselves with the fetishes of Egypt—I the E<small>TERNAL</small> am your God. ", |
| "But they defied Me and refused to listen to Me. Not one of them cast away the detestable things they were drawn to, nor did they give up the fetishes of Egypt. Then I resolved to pour out My fury upon them, to vent all My anger upon them there, in the land of Egypt. ", |
| "But I acted for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they were. For it was before their eyes that I had made Myself known to Israel<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Israel </b>Lit. “them.”</i> to bring them out of the land of Egypt.", |
| "I brought them out of the land of Egypt and I led them into the wilderness.", |
| "I gave them My laws and taught them My rules, by the pursuit of which humans shall live. ", |
| "Moreover, I gave them My sabbaths to serve as a sign between Me and them, that they might know that it is I, G<small>OD</small>, who sanctify them. ", |
| "But the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not follow My laws and they rejected My rules—by the pursuit of which humans shall live—and they grossly desecrated My sabbaths. Then I thought to pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness and to make an end of them;", |
| "but I acted for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations before whose eyes I had led them out. ", |
| "However, I swore<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>swore </b>See note at v. 5.</i> to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the fairest of all lands, that I had assigned [to them], ", |
| "for they had rejected My rules, disobeyed My laws, and desecrated My sabbaths; their hearts followed after their fetishes. ", |
| "But I had pity on them and did not destroy them; I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.", |
| "I warned their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the practices of your ancestors, do not keep their ways, and do not defile yourselves with their fetishes. ", |
| "I the E<small>TERNAL</small> One am your God: Follow My laws and be careful to observe My rules.", |
| "And hallow My sabbaths, that they may be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I the E<small>TERNAL</small> One am your God.", |
| "But the children rebelled against Me: they did not follow My laws and did not faithfully observe My rules, by the pursuit of which humans shall live; they profaned My sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My fury upon them, to vent all My anger upon them, in the wilderness. ", |
| "But I held back My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations before whose eyes I had led them out. ", |
| "However, I swore<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>swore </b>See note at v. 5.</i> to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the lands, ", |
| "because they did not obey My rules, but rejected My laws, profaned My sabbaths, and looked with longing to the fetishes of their ancestors. ", |
| "Moreover, I gave them laws that were not good and rules by which they could not live: ", |
| "When they set aside every first issue of the womb, I defiled them by their very gifts<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>by their very gifts </b>See v. 31.</i> —that I might render them desolate,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>desolate </b>Emendation yields “guilty.”</i> that they might know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Now, O mortal, speak to the House of Israel and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: By this too your ancestors affronted Me and committed trespass against Me: ", |
| "When I brought them to the land that I had sworn<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>sworn </b>See note at v. 5.</i> to give them, and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, they slaughtered their sacrifices there and presented their offensive offerings there; there they produced their pleasing odors and poured out their libations. ", |
| "Then I said to them, “What is this shrine that you visit?” (Therefore such [a shrine] is called <i>bamah</i> <sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>bamah </b>As if from <i>ba</i> “visit” and <i>mah</i> “what.”</i> to this day.)", |
| "Now say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: If you defile yourselves as your ancestors did and go astray after their detestable things, ", |
| "and if to this very day you defile yourselves in the presentation of your gifts by making your children pass through the fire to all your fetishes, shall I respond to your inquiry, O House of Israel? As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —I will not respond to you. ", |
| "And what you have in mind shall never come to pass—when you say, “We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, worshiping wood and stone.” ", |
| "As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with overflowing fury. ", |
| "With a strong hand and an outstretched arm and overflowing fury I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, ", |
| "and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples; and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.", |
| "As I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "I will make you pass under the shepherd’s staff,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I will make you pass under the shepherd’s staff </b>I.e., I will count you; see Lev. 27.32.</i> and I will bring you into the bond<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>bond </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of the covenant. ", |
| "I will remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me; I will take them out of the countries where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "As for you, O House of Israel, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Go—every last one of you—and worship your fetishes and continue,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>continue </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> if you will not obey Me; but do not profane My holy name anymore with your idolatrous gifts. ", |
| "For only on My holy mountain, on the lofty mount of Israel—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —there, in the land, the entire House of Israel, all of it, must worship Me. There I will accept them, and there I will take note of your contributions and the choicest offerings of all your sacred things. ", |
| "When I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you are scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing odor; and I will be sanctified through you in the sight of the nations. ", |
| "Then, when I have brought you to the land of Israel, to the country that I swore<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>swore </b>See note at v. 5.</i> to give to your fathers,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">o</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>fathers </b>See note at Josh. 1.6.</i> you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "There you will recall your ways and all the acts by which you defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils that you committed.", |
| "Then, O House of Israel, you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>, when I deal with you for My name’s sake—not in accordance with your evil ways and corrupt acts—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, set your face toward Teman, and proclaim to Darom, and prophesy against the brushland of the Negeb.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Teman…Darom…Negeb </b>Three terms for “the south.” The allusion is to Jerusalem (v. 7), which was always approached from Babylon by way of the north.</i> ", |
| "Say to the brushland of the Negeb: Hear the word of G<small>OD</small>. Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to kindle a fire in you, which shall devour every tree of yours, both green and withered. Its leaping flame shall not go out, and every face from south to north shall be scorched by it. ", |
| "Then all flesh shall recognize that I, G<small>OD</small>, have kindled it; it shall not go out. ", |
| "And I said, “Ah, my Sovereign G<small>OD</small> ! They say of me: He is just a riddlemonger.”", |
| "Then the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, set your face toward Jerusalem and proclaim against her sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel. ", |
| "Say to the land of Israel: Thus said G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deal with you! I will draw My sword from its sheath, and I will wipe out from you both the righteous and the wicked. ", |
| "In order to wipe out from you both the righteous and the wicked, My sword shall assuredly be unsheathed against all flesh from south to north; ", |
| "and all flesh shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have drawn My sword from its sheath, not to be sheathed again.", |
| "And you, O mortal, sigh; with tottering limbs and bitter grief, sigh before their eyes. ", |
| "And when they ask you, “Why do you sigh?” answer, “Because of the tidings that have come.” Every heart shall sink and all hands hang nerveless; every spirit shall grow faint and all knees turn to water because of the tidings that have come. It is approaching, it shall come to pass—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, prophesy and say: Thus said the Sovereign: A sword! A sword has been whetted and polished. ", |
| "It has been whetted to wreak slaughter; [therefore] it has been ground to a brilliant polish.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>[therefore] it has been ground to a brilliant polish </b>Lit. “it has been polished in order that it may have lightning.”</i> How can we rejoice? My child, it scorns<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>How can we rejoice? My child, it scorns </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> the rod and every stick. ", |
| "It has been given to be polished and then grasped in the hand; for this has the sword been whetted, for this polished—to be put into the hand of a slayer. ", |
| "Cry and wail, O mortal, for this shall befall My people, this shall befall all the chieftains of Israel: they shall be cast before the sword together with My people; oh, strike the thigh [in grief]. ", |
| "Consider: How shall it fail to happen, seeing that it even scorns the rod?<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Consider: How shall it fail to happen, seeing that it even scorns the rod? </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> —says the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Further, O mortal, prophesy, striking hand against hand. Let the sword strike a second time and yet a third time; it is a sword for massacre, a sword for great carnage, that presses<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>presses </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> upon them. ", |
| "Thus hearts shall lose courage and many shall fall. At all their gates I have appointed slaughter<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>slaughter </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> by the sword. Ah! it is made to flash brilliantly, it is honed<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>honed </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> for slaughter. ", |
| "Be united,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Be united </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain; Targum reads “Be whetted.” Cf. vv. 14–16.</i> go to the right, turn left; whither are you bound? ", |
| "I, too, will strike hand against hand and will satisfy My fury upon you; I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "And you, O mortal, choose two roads on which the sword of the king of Babylon may advance, both issuing from the same country; and select a spot, select it where roads branch off to [two] cities. ", |
| "Choose a way for the sword to advance on Rabbah of the Ammonites or on fortified Jerusalem in Judah.", |
| "For the king of Babylon has stood at the fork of the road, where two roads branch off, to perform divination: He has shaken arrows, consulted oracle idols, and inspected the liver.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>inspected the liver </b>Of a sacrificed animal.</i> ", |
| "In his right hand came up the omen against Jerusalem—to set battering rams, to proclaim murder, to raise battle shouts, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to erect towers.", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\">The inhabitants of Jerusalem disregarded their oaths to the Babylonians; cf. 17.13ff.</i> In their eyes, the oaths they had sworn to them were like empty divination; but this shall serve to recall their guilt, for which they shall be taken to task. ", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: For causing your guilt to be recalled, your transgressions to be uncovered, and your sins to be revealed—all your misdeeds—because you have brought yourselves to [My] mind, you shall be taken to task.", |
| "And to you, O dishonored wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come—the time set for your punishment— ", |
| "thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Remove the turban and lift off the crown! This shall not remain as it is; exalt the low and abase the high.", |
| "Ruin, an utter ruin I will make it. It shall be no more<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>It shall be no more </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs; and I will give it to him.", |
| "Further, O mortal, prophesy and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> concerning the Ammonites and their blasphemies: Proclaim: O sword! O sword unsheathed for slaughter, polished to the utmost, to a flashing brilliance! ", |
| "Because they have prophesied falsely about you and have divined deceitfully concerning you, you shall be wielded over the necks of the dishonored wicked ones, for their day has come, the time set for their punishment.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>set for their punishment </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Return it to its sheath!<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Return it to its sheath! </b>Emendation yields “Return to your scabbard!” In this and the following verses, the prophet describes the future punishment of Babylon, still symbolized by the sword.</i> In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ", |
| "I will pour out My indignation upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath; and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarians, skilled in destruction. ", |
| "You shall be fuel for the fire, your blood shall sink into the earth, you shall not be remembered, for I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "Further, O mortal, arraign, arraign<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>arraign, arraign </b>Lit. “will you arraign, arraign.”</i> the city of bloodshed; declare to her all her abhorrent deeds! ", |
| "Say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: O city in whose midst blood is shed, so that your hour is approaching; within which fetishes are made, so that you have become impure! ", |
| "You stand guilty of the blood you have shed, defiled by the fetishes you have made. You have brought on your day; you have reached your year.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you have reached your year </b>Some Babylonian mss. and ancient versions read “the time of your years has come.”</i> Therefore I will make you the mockery of the nations and the scorn of all the lands. ", |
| "Both the near and the far shall scorn you, O besmirched of name, O laden with iniquity!", |
| "Every one of the princes of Israel in your midst used his strength for the shedding of blood.", |
| "Fathers and mothers have been humiliated within you; strangers have been cheated in your midst; orphans and widows have been wronged within you.", |
| "You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths.", |
| "Base<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Base </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> men in your midst were intent on shedding blood; in you they have eaten on the mountains;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on the mountains </b>Cf. note at 18.6.</i> and they have practiced depravity in your midst. ", |
| "In you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>uncovered their fathers’ nakedness </b>I.e., cohabited with their father’s (former) wife; cf. Lev. 18.7–8.</i> in you they have violated women during their menstrual impurity. ", |
| "They have committed abhorrent acts with other men’s wives; in their depravity they have defiled their own daughters-in-law; in you they have violated their own sisters, daughters of their fathers. ", |
| "They have taken bribes within you to shed blood. You have taken advance and accrued interest;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>advance and accrued interest </b>Cf. note at 18.8.</i> you have defrauded your fellow [Israelites] to your profit. You have forgotten Me—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Lo, I will strike My hands over the ill-gotten gains that you have amassed, and over the bloodshed that has been committed in your midst. ", |
| "Will your courage endure, will your hands remain firm in the days when I deal with you? I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken and I will act. ", |
| "I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the lands; I will consume the impurity out of you.", |
| "You shall be dishonored in the sight of nations, and you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, the House of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all copper, tin, iron, and lead. But in a crucible, the dross shall turn into silver.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>But in a crucible, the dross shall turn into silver </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. ", |
| "As silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are gathered into a crucible to blow the fire upon them, so as to melt them, so will I gather you in My fierce anger and cast you [into the fire] and melt you. ", |
| "I will gather you and I will blow upon you the fire of My fury, and you shall be melted in it. ", |
| "As silver is melted in a crucible, so shall you be melted in it. And you shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have poured out My fury upon you.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, say to her: You are an unpurified land, not to be washed with rain<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>not to be washed with rain </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> on the day of indignation. ", |
| "Her gang of prophets<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Her gang of prophets </b>Septuagint reads “Whose chieftains.”</i> are like roaring lions in her midst, rending prey. They devour human beings; they seize treasure and wealth; they have widowed many women in her midst. ", |
| "Her priests have violated My Teaching: they have profaned what is sacred to Me, they have not distinguished between the sacred and the profane, they have not taught the difference between the impure and the pure, and they have closed their eyes to My sabbaths. I am profaned in their midst. ", |
| "Her officials are like wolves rending prey in her midst; they shed blood and destroy lives to win ill-gotten gain.", |
| "Her prophets, too, daub the wall for them with plaster:<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>daub the wall for them with plaster </b>Cf. 13.10ff.</i> They prophesy falsely and divine deceitfully for them; they say, “Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>,” when G<small>OD</small> has not spoken. ", |
| "And the people of the land have practiced fraud and committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and needy, have defrauded the stranger without redress. ", |
| "And I sought someone among them to repair the wall or to stand in the breach before Me in behalf of this land, that I might not destroy it; but I found none. ", |
| "I have therefore poured out My indignation upon them; I will consume them with the fire of My fury. I will repay them for their conduct—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, once there were two women, daughters of one mother. ", |
| "They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore while still young. There their breasts were squeezed, and there their virgin nipples were handled. ", |
| "Their names were: the elder one, Oholah;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Oholah </b>I.e., “Tent.”</i> and her sister, Oholibah.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Oholibah </b>I.e., “My Tent Is in Her.”</i> They became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.", |
| "Oholah whored while she was Mine, and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, warriors<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>warriors </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "clothed in blue, governors and prefects, cavalry troops—all of them handsome young fellows. ", |
| "She bestowed her favors upon them—upon all the pick of the Assyrians—and defiled herself with all their fetishes after which she lusted.", |
| "She did not give up the whoring she had begun with the Egyptians; for they had lain with her in her youth, and they had handled her virgin nipples and had poured out their lust upon her. ", |
| "Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians after whom she lusted. ", |
| "They exposed her nakedness; they seized her sons and daughters, and she herself was put to the sword. And because of the punishment inflicted upon her, she became a byword among women.", |
| "Her sister Oholibah saw this; yet her lusting was more depraved than her sister’s, and her whoring more debased. ", |
| "She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and prefects, warriors<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>warriors </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> gorgeously clad, horsemen mounted on steeds—all of them handsome young fellows. ", |
| "And I saw how she had defiled herself. Both of them followed the same course, ", |
| "but she carried her whoring further. For she saw men sculptured upon the walls, figures of Chaldeans drawn in vermilion, ", |
| "girded with belts round their waists, and with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers—a picture of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. ", |
| "At the very sight of them she lusted after them, and she sent messengers for them to Chaldea. ", |
| "So the Babylonians came to her for lovemaking and defiled her with their whoring; and she defiled herself with them until she turned from them in disgust.", |
| "She flaunted her whoring and exposed her nakedness, and I turned from her in disgust, as I had turned disgusted from her sister. ", |
| "But she whored still more, remembering how in her youth she had played the whore in the land of Egypt; ", |
| "she lusted for concubinage with them, whose members were like those of donkeys and whose organs<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>organs </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> were like those of stallions. ", |
| "Thus you reverted to the wantonness of your youth, remembering<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>remembering </b>Lit. “for the sake of.”</i> your youthful breasts, when the men of Egypt handled your nipples.", |
| "Assuredly, Oholibah, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to rouse against you the lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them upon you from all around— ", |
| "the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, [the people of] Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, all of them handsome young fellows, governors and prefects, officers and warriors,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>warriors </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> all of them riding on horseback. ", |
| "They shall attack you with fleets<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>fleets </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of wheeled chariots and a host of troops; they shall set themselves against you on all sides with bucklers, shields, and helmets. And I will entrust your punishment to them, and they shall inflict their punishments on you. ", |
| "I will direct My passion against you, and they shall deal with you in fury: They shall cut off your nose and ears;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>cut off your nose and ears </b>A typical way of punishing a faithless subordinate in the ancient Near East.</i> the last of you shall fall by the sword. They shall take away your sons and daughters, and your remnant shall be devoured by fire. ", |
| "They shall strip you of your clothing and take away your dazzling jewels.", |
| "I will put an end to your wantonness and to your whoring in the land of Egypt, and you shall not long for them or remember Egypt anymore.", |
| "For thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust. ", |
| "They shall treat you with hate, and they shall take away all you have toiled for, and leave you naked and bare; your naked licentiousness, wantonness, and whoredom will be exposed. ", |
| "These things shall be done to you for your whoring with the nations, for defiling yourself with their fetishes. ", |
| "You walked in your sister’s path; therefore I will put her cup into your hand.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You shall drink of your sister’s cup,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">So deep and wide;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">It shall cause derision and scorn,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">It holds so much.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You shall be filled with drunkenness and woe.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The cup of desolation and horror,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The cup of your sister Samaria—</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You shall drink it and drain it,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And gnaw its shards;</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>And gnaw its shards </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And you shall tear your breasts.</span><br>For I have spoken—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you in turn must suffer for your wanton whoring.", |
| "Then G<small>OD</small> said to me: O mortal, arraign<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>arraign </b>Lit. “will you arraign”; cf. 22.2.</i> Oholah and Oholibah, and charge them with their abominations. ", |
| "For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; truly they have committed adultery with their fetishes, and have even offered to them as food the children they bore to Me. ", |
| "At the same time they also did this to Me: they defiled My Sanctuary and profaned My sabbaths.", |
| "On the very day that they slaughtered their children to their fetishes, they entered My Sanctuary to desecrate it. That is what they did in My House.", |
| "Moreover, they sent for men to come from afar, [men] to whom a messenger was sent; and they came. For them, [Oholibah,] you bathed, painted your eyes, and donned your finery; ", |
| "and you sat on a grand couch with a set table in front of it—and it was My incense and My oil you laid upon it.", |
| "And the noise of a carefree multitude was there, of numerous men brought drunk from the desert;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>of numerous men brought drunk from the desert </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and they put bracelets on their arms and splendid crowns upon their heads. ", |
| "Then I said, “To destruction with adultery! Look, they are still going on with those same fornications of hers.”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>To destruction … hers </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "And they would go to her as one goes to a prostitute; that is how they went to Oholah and Oholibah, wanton women. ", |
| "But righteous men<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>righteous men </b>Or “other, unimplicated parties.”</i> shall punish them with the punishments for adultery and for bloodshed, for they are adulteresses and have blood on their hands.", |
| "For thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Summon an assembly against them, and make them an object of horror and plunder. ", |
| "Let the assembly pelt them with stones and cut them down with their swords; let them kill their sons and daughters, and burn down their homes. ", |
| "I will put an end to wantonness in the land; and all the women shall take warning not to imitate your wantonness.", |
| "They shall punish you for your wantonness, and you shall suffer the penalty for your sinful idolatry. And you shall know that I am the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, record this date, this exact day; for this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. ", |
| "Further, speak in an allegory to the rebellious breed and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Put the cauldron [on the fire], put it on,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And then pour water into it.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Collect in it the pieces [of meat].</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Every choice piece, thigh and shoulder;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Fill it with the best cuts</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>cuts </b>Lit. “limbs.”</i> —", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Take the best of the flock.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Also pile the cuts</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>cuts </b>Emendation yields “wood”; cf. v. 10.</i> under it;<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Get it boiling briskly,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And cook the cuts in it.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Woe to the city of blood—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">A cauldron whose scum</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>scum </b>Or “rust.”</i> is in it,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Whose scum has not been cleaned out!</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Empty it piece by piece;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">No lot has fallen upon it.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>No lot has fallen upon it </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For the blood she shed is still in her;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She set it upon a bare rock;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She did not pour it out on the ground</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To cover it with earth.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>She </b>Heb. “I.”</i> set her blood upon the bare rock,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">So that it was not covered,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">So that it may stir up [My] fury</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To take vengeance.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Woe to the city of blood!</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I in turn will make a great blaze.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Pile on the logs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Kindle the fire,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Cook the meat through</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And stew it completely,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>stew it completely </b>Emendation yields “Pour out the broth.”</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And let the bones be charred.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Let it stand empty on the coals,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Until it becomes so hot</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">That the copper glows.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Then its impurity shall melt away in it,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And its rust be consumed.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\"><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Meaning of verse uncertain.</i> </span>It has frustrated all effort,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Its thick scum will not leave it—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Into the fire with its scum!</span><br>", |
| "For your vile defilement—because I sought to purify you of your defilement, but you would not be purified—you shall never be pure again until I have satisfied My fury upon you. ", |
| "I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken: It shall come to pass and I will do it. I will not refrain or spare or relent. You shall be punished according to your ways and your deeds—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "“O mortal, I am about to take away the delight of your eyes from you through pestilence; but you shall not lament or weep or let your tears flow. ", |
| "Moan softly; observe no mourning for the dead: Put on your turban and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover over your upper lip, and do not eat the bread of comforters.”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>comforters </b>Lit. “participants.”</i> ", |
| "In the evening my wife died, and in the morning I did as I had been commanded. And when I spoke to the people that morning, ", |
| "the people asked me, “Will you not tell us what these things portend for us, that you are acting so?” ", |
| "I answered them, “The word of G<small>OD</small> has come to me: ", |
| "Tell the House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: ‘I am going to desecrate My Sanctuary, your pride and glory, the delight of your eyes and the desire of your heart; and the sons and daughters you have left behind shall fall by the sword. ", |
| "(Accordingly, you shall do as I<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I </b>I.e., Ezekiel.</i> have done: you shall not cover over your upper lips or eat the bread of comforters;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>comforters </b>See note at v. 17.</i> ", |
| "and your turbans shall remain on your heads, and your sandals upon your feet. You shall not lament or weep, but you shall be heartsick because of your iniquities and shall moan to one another.) ", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\">This verse would read well before v. 22.</i> And Ezekiel shall become a portent for you: you shall do just as he has done, when the predicted punishment<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the predicted punishment </b>Heb. “it”; cf. v. 14.</i> happens; and you shall know that I am the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.’”", |
| "You, O mortal, take note: On the day that I take their stronghold from them, their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes and the longing of their hearts—their sons and daughters— ", |
| "on that day a fugitive will come to you, to let you hear it with your own ears. ", |
| "On that day your mouth shall be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and no longer be dumb. So you shall be a portent for them, and they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. ", |
| "Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> ! Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you cried “Aha!” over My Sanctuary when it was desecrated, and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and over the House of Judah when it went into exile— ", |
| "assuredly, I will deliver you to the Kedemites as a possession. They shall set up their encampments among you and pitch their dwellings in your midst; they shall eat your produce and they shall drink your milk. ", |
| "I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a place for sheep to lie down. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "For thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with such utter scorn—", |
| "assuredly, I will stretch out My hand against you and give you as booty to the nations; I will cut you off from among the peoples and wipe you out from among the countries and destroy you. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because Moab and Seir<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>and Seir </b>Lacking in some Septuagint mss.</i> said, “See, the House of Judah is like all other nations”— ", |
| "assuredly, I will lay bare the flank of Moab, all its towns to the last one—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, the glory of the country. ", |
| "I will deliver it, together with Ammon, to the Kedemites as their possession. Thus Ammon shall not be remembered among the nations, ", |
| "and I will mete out punishments to Moab. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because Edom acted vengefully against the House of Judah and incurred guilt by wreaking revenge upon it—", |
| "assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it human and animal, and I will lay it in ruins; from Tema to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. ", |
| "I will wreak My vengeance on Edom through My people Israel, and they shall take action against Edom in accordance with My blazing anger; and they shall know My vengeance—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because the Philistines, in their ancient hatred, acted vengefully, and with utter scorn sought revenge and destruction— ", |
| "assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines and cut off the Cherethites and wipe out the last survivors of the seacoast. ", |
| "I will wreak frightful vengeance upon them by furious punishment; and when I inflict My vengeance upon them, they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the eleventh year, on the first of the month,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the month </b>The specific month is not indicated.</i> the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, because Tyre gloated over Jerusalem, “Aha! The gateway<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>gateway </b>Targum reads “trafficker”; cf. 27.3.</i> of the peoples is broken, it has become mine; I shall be filled, now that it is laid in ruins”— ", |
| "assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I am going to deal with you, O Tyre!</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will hurl many nations against you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">As the sea hurls its waves.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall destroy the walls of Tyre</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And demolish her towers;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And I will scrape her soil off her</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And leave her a naked rock.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She shall be in the heart of the sea</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">A place for drying</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>drying </b>Lit. “spreading out.”</i> nets;<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For I have spoken it</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>.<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">She shall become spoil for the nations,</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And her daughter-towns in the country</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Shall be put to the sword.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall know that I am </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "For thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will bring from the north, against Tyre, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, a king of kings, with horses, chariots, and riders—a great mass of troops.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your daughter-towns in the country</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He shall put to the sword;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He shall erect towers against you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And cast up mounds against you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And raise [a wall of] bucklers against you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He shall turn the force of his battering rams</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Against your walls</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And smash your towers with his axes.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>axes </b>Lit. “swords.”</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From the cloud raised by his horses</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Dust shall cover you;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From the clatter of riders</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And wheels and chariots,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your walls shall shake—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When he enters your gates</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">As those who enter a breached city.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>As those who enter a breached city </b>Or “Which will become like alleyways of a breached city.”</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With the hoofs of his steeds</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He shall trample all your streets.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">He shall put your people to the sword,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And your mighty pillars shall crash to the ground.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall plunder your wealth</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And loot your merchandise.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall raze your walls</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And tear down your splendid houses,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall cast into the water</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your stones and timber and soil.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will put an end to the murmur of your songs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will make you a naked rock,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You shall be a place for drying</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>drying </b>Lit. “spreading out.”</i> nets;<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You shall never be rebuilt.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For I have spoken</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to Tyre: The coastlands shall quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is rife within you. ", |
| "All the rulers of the sea shall descend from their thrones; they shall remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling, and shall sit on the ground; they shall tremble every moment, and they shall be aghast at you. ", |
| "And they shall intone a dirge over you, and they shall say to you:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">How you have perished, you who were peopled</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you who were peopled </b>Septuagint reads “vanished.”</i> from the seas,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">O renowned city!</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Mighty on the sea were she and her inhabitants,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Who cast their terror on all its inhabitants.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>its inhabitants </b>I.e., denizens of the sea. Emendation yields “the dry land.”</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Now shall the coastlands tremble</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On the day of your downfall,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And the coastlands by the sea</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Be terrified at your end.</span><br>", |
| "For thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: When I make you a ruined city, like cities empty of inhabitants; when I bring the deep over you, and its mighty waters cover you, ", |
| "then I will bring you down, with those who go down to the Pit, to the people of old. I will install you in the netherworld, with those that go down to the Pit, like the ruins of old, so that you shall not be inhabited and shall not radiate<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>radiate </b>Understanding <i>nathatti</i> as second-person singular feminine; cf. 16.50 and note. But meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> splendor in the land of the living. ", |
| "I will make you a horror, and you shall cease to be; you shall be sought, but shall never be found again—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "Now you, O mortal, intone a dirge over Tyre. ", |
| "Say to Tyre:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">O you who dwell at the gateway of the sea,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Who trade with the peoples on many coastlands:</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thus said the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">O Tyre, you boasted,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I am perfect in beauty.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>O Tyre, you boasted, / I am perfect in beauty </b>Emendation yields: “O Tyre, you are a ship / Perfect in beauty.”</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your frontiers were on the high seas,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your builders perfected your beauty.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From cypress trees of Senir</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They fashioned your planks;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They took a cedar from Lebanon</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To make a mast for you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From oak trees of Bashan</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They made your oars;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Of boxwood from the isles of Kittim,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Inlaid with ivory,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They made your decks.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Embroidered linen from Egypt</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Was the cloth</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">That served you for sails;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Were your awnings.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Were your rowers;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your skilled men,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>skilled men </b>I.e., experts in navigation; cf. Kimhi.</i> O Tyre,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Your skilled men, O Tyre </b>Emendation yields “The skilled men of Zemar”; cf. Gen. 10.18.</i> were within you,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They were your pilots.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Gebal’s elders and artisans were within you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Making your repairs.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the ships of the sea, with their crews,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Were in your harbor</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>in your harbor </b>Lit. “in you.”</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To traffic in your wares.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Men of Paras, Lud, and Put</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Were in your army,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your warriors;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They hung shields and helmets in your midst,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They lent splendor to you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Men of Arvad and Helech</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Were upon your walls all around,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And men of Gammad were stationed in your towers;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They hung their quivers all about your walls;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They perfected your beauty.</span><br>", |
| "Tarshish traded with you because of your wealth of all kinds of goods; they bartered silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares. ", |
| "Javan, Tubal, and Meshech—they were your merchants; they trafficked with you in human beings and copper utensils. ", |
| "From Beth-togarmah they bartered horses, riders, and mules for your wares. ", |
| "The people of Dedan were your merchants; many coastlands traded under your rule and rendered you tribute in ivory tusks and ebony.", |
| "Aram traded with you because of your wealth of merchandise, dealing with you in turquoise, purple stuff, embroidery, fine linen, coral, and agate.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>turquoise…agate </b>The exact identity of these two stones is uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Judah and the land of Israel were your merchants; they trafficked with you in wheat of Minnith and Pannag,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Minnith and Pannag </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain; cf. “Minnith,” Judg. 11.33.</i> honey, oil, and balm. ", |
| "Because of your wealth of merchandise, because of your great wealth, Damascus traded with you in Helbon wine and white wool. ", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Meaning of verses uncertain.</i> Vedan and Javan from Uzal traded for your wares; they trafficked with you in polished iron, cassia, and calamus. ", |
| "Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding.", |
| "Arabia and all Kedar’s chiefs were traders under your rule; they traded with you in lambs, rams, and goats. ", |
| "The merchants of Sheba and Raamah were your merchants; they bartered for your wares all the finest spices, all kinds of precious stones, and gold. ", |
| "Haran, Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Assyria, and Chilmad traded with you. ", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Meaning of verse uncertain.</i> These were your merchants in choice fabrics, embroidered cloaks of blue, and many-colored carpets tied up with cords and preserved with cedar—among your wares. ", |
| "The ships of Tarshish were in the service of your trade.<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\"><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Resuming the description of Tyre as a ship, as in vv. 3b–9a.</i> </span>So you were full and richly laden<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On the high seas.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your oarsmen brought you out</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Into the mighty waters;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The tempest wrecked you</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On the high seas.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Your sailors and your pilots,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Those who made your repairs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Those who carried on your traffic,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And all the warriors within you—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the multitude within you—</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Shall go down into the depths of the sea</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On the day of your downfall.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">At the outcry of your pilots</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The billows shall heave;</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And all the oarsmen and mariners,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the pilots of the sea,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Shall come down from their ships</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And stand on the ground.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall raise their voices over you</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And cry out bitterly;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall cast dust on their heads</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And strew ashes on themselves.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On your account, they shall make</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Bald patches on their heads,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And shall gird themselves with sackcloth.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall weep over you, brokenhearted,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With bitter lamenting;</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall intone a dirge over you as they wail,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And lament for you thus:</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Who was like Tyre when she was silenced</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the midst of the sea?</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When your wares were unloaded from the seas,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You satisfied many peoples;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With your great wealth and merchandise</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You enriched the kings of the earth.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">But when you were wrecked on the seas,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the deep waters sank your merchandise</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And all the crew aboard you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the inhabitants of the coastlands</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Are appalled over you;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Their kings are aghast,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Their faces contorted.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>contorted </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The merchants among the peoples hissed</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>hissed </b>To ward off the calamity from the viewer; cf. Jer. 18.16; 49.17; Job 27.23; Lam. 2.15.</i> at you;<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You have become a horror,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And have ceased to be forever.</span><br>" |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br>Because you have been so haughty and have said, “I am a god; I sit enthroned like a god in the heart of the seas,” whereas you are not a god but a human, though you deemed your mind equal to a god’s<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>god’s </b>This sentence is continued in v. 6; vv. 3–5 are parenthetical.</i> —", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Yes, you are wiser than Daniel;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In no hidden matter can anyone</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Compare to you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By your shrewd understanding</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You have gained riches,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And have amassed gold and silver</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In your treasuries.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By your great shrewdness in trade</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You have increased your wealth,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And you have grown haughty</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Because of your wealth.</span><br>", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because you have deemed your mind equal to a god’s,", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I swear I will bring against you</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Strangers, the most ruthless of nations.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall unsheathe their swords</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Against your prized shrewdness,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall strike down</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>strike down </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> your splendor.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall bring you down to the Pit;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the heart of the sea you shall die</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The death of the slain.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Will you still say, “I am a god”</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Before your slayers,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When you are proved a human, not a god,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">At the hands of those who strike you down?</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By the hands of strangers you shall die</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The death of the uncircumcised;</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>The death of the uncircumcised </b>According to popular belief, males who die uncircumcised and persons left unburied are relegated to the lower level of the netherworld; cf. 31.18; 32.19ff.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For I have spoken</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, intone a dirge over the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You were the seal of perfection,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Full of wisdom and flawless in beauty.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You were in Eden, the garden of God;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Every precious stone was your adornment:</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And gold beautifully wrought for you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Mined for you, prepared the day you were created.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>beautifully wrought … created </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain. On the stones, see note at Exod. 28.17.</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I created you as a cherub</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With outstretched shielding wings;</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I created … wings </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And you resided on God’s holy mountain;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You walked among stones of fire.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You were blameless in your ways,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From the day you were created</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Until wrongdoing was found in you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By your far-flung commerce</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You were filled with lawlessness</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And you sinned.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">So I have struck you down</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From the mountain of God,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And I have destroyed you, O shielding cherub,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From among the stones of fire.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You grew haughty because of your beauty,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You debased your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I have cast you to the ground,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I have made you an object for kings to stare at.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By the greatness of your guilt,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Through the dishonesty of your trading,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You desecrated your sanctuaries.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">So I made a fire issue from you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And it has devoured you;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I have reduced you to ashes on the ground,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the sight of all who behold you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All who knew you among the peoples</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Are appalled at your doom.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You have become a horror</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And have ceased to be, forever.</span><br>", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, set your face toward Sidon and prophesy against her. ", |
| "Say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I am going to deal with you, O Sidon.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will gain glory in your midst;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall know that I am </span> G<small>OD</small>,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When I wreak punishment upon her</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And show Myself holy through her.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will let pestilence loose against her</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And bloodshed into her streets.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And the slain shall fall in her midst</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When the sword comes upon her from all sides.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall know that I am </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Then shall the House of Israel no longer be afflicted with prickling briers and lacerating thorns from all the neighbors who despise them; and they shall know that I am the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: When I have gathered the House of Israel from the peoples among which they have been dispersed, and have shown Myself holy through them in the sight of the nations, they shall settle on their own soil, which I gave to My servant Jacob, ", |
| "and they shall dwell on it in security. They shall build houses and plant vineyards, and shall dwell on it in security, when I have meted out punishment to all those about them who despise them. And they shall know that I the E<small>TERNAL</small> One am their God." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, turn your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ", |
| "Speak these words:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thus said the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Mighty monster, sprawling in your</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>your </b>Lit. “its.”</i> channels,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Who said,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">My Nile is my own;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I made it for myself.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will put hooks in your jaws,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And make the fish of your channels</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Cling to your scales;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will haul you up from your channels,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With all the fish of your channels</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Clinging to your scales.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And I will fling you into the desert,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With all the fish of your channels.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You shall be left lying in the open,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Ungathered and unburied:</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I have given you as food</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To the beasts of the earth</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And the birds of the sky.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">That I am </span> G<small>OD</small>.<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Because you</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you </b>Lit. “they.”</i> were a staff of reed<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To the House of Israel:</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When they grasped you with the hand, you would splinter,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And wound all their shoulders,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>shoulders </b>Septuagint and Syriac read “palms”; cf. 2 Kings 18.21; Isa. 36.6.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And when they leaned on you, you would break,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And make all their loins unsteady.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>unsteady </b>Taking <i>ʻamad</i> as a byform of <i>maʻad</i>; cf. Syriac translation.</i> ", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Lo, I will bring a sword against you, and will cut off human and animal from you, ", |
| "so that the land of Egypt shall fall into desolation and ruin. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small> —because he boasted, “The Nile is mine, and I made it.” ", |
| "Assuredly, I am going to deal with you and your channels, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to utter ruin and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Cush.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Cush </b>I.e., the length of Egypt, from north to south. Syene is modern Aswan.</i> ", |
| "No human foot shall traverse it, and no animal foot shall traverse it; and it shall remain uninhabited for forty years. ", |
| "For forty years I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate of desolate lands, and its cities shall be the most desolate of ruined cities. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.", |
| "Further, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: After a period of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were dispersed. ", |
| "I will restore the fortunes of the Egyptians and bring them back to the land of their origin, the land of Pathros,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Pathros </b>I.e., southern Egypt.</i> and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. ", |
| "It shall be the lowliest of all the kingdoms, and shall not lord it over the nations again. I will reduce the Egyptians,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Egyptians </b>Heb. “them.”</i> so that they shall have no dominion over the nations. ", |
| "Never again shall they be the trust of the House of Israel, recalling its guilt in having turned to them. And they shall know that I am the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has made his army expend vast labor on Tyre; every head is rubbed bald and every shoulder scraped. But he and his army have had no return for the labor he expended on Tyre. ", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. He shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and seize her booty; and she shall be the recompense of his army. ", |
| "As the wage for which he labored, for what they did for Me, I give him the land of Egypt—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "On that day I will endow the House of Israel with strength, and you shall be vindicated<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>endow the House of Israel with strength, and you shall be vindicated </b>Lit. “cause a horn to sprout for the House of Israel, and I will grant you opening of the mouth.”</i> among them. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, prophesy and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Wail, alas for the day!</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For a day is near;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">A day of </span> G<small>OD</small> is near.<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">It will be a day of cloud,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">An hour of [invading] nations.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">A sword shall pierce Egypt,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And Cush shall be seized with trembling,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When the slain fall in Egypt</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And her wealth is seized</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And her foundations are overthrown.</span><br>", |
| "Cush, Put, and Lud, and all the mixed populations,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the mixed populations </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and Cub, and the inhabitants of the allied countries shall fall by the sword with them.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thus said </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Those who support Egypt shall fall,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And her proud strength shall sink;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">There they shall fall by the sword,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">From Migdol to Syene</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "They shall be the most desolate of desolate lands, and her cities shall be the most ruined of cities, ", |
| "when I set fire to Egypt and all who help her are broken. Thus they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "On that day, messengers shall set out at My bidding to strike terror into confident Cush. And they shall be seized with trembling on Egypt’s day [of doom]—for it is at hand.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt through King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon.", |
| "He, together with his troops, the most ruthless of the nations, shall be brought to ravage the land. And they shall unsheathe the sword against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.", |
| "I will turn the channels into dry ground, and I will deliver the land into the hands of evildoers. I will lay waste the land and everything in it by the hands of strangers. I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will destroy the fetishes and make an end of the idols in Noph; and no longer shall there be a prince in the land of Egypt; and I will strike the land of Egypt with fear.", |
| "I will lay Pathros waste, I will set fire to Zoan, and I will execute judgment on No. ", |
| "I will pour out my anger upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, and I will destroy the wealth of No. ", |
| "I will set fire to Egypt; Sin shall writhe in anguish and No shall be torn apart; and Noph [shall face] adversaries in broad daylight.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>and Noph [shall face] adversaries in broad daylight </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "The young men of Aven<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Aven </b>Elsewhere called “On”; cf. Gen. 41.45, 50; 46.20.</i> and Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and those [towns]<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>those [towns] </b>Or “those [women of the towns]”; cf. Kimhi.</i> shall go into captivity. ", |
| "In Tehaphnehes<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Tehaphnehes </b>Elsewhere vocalized “Tahpanhes”; e.g., Jer. 2.16; 44.1.</i> daylight shall be withheld,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>withheld </b>Some Heb. mss. and editions read “darkened.”</i> when I break there the power of Egypt, and there her proud strength comes to an end. [The city] itself shall be covered with cloud, and its daughter towns<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>its daughter towns </b>Or “its women.”</i> shall go into captivity.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thus I will execute judgment on Egypt;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall know that I am </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; it has not been bound up to be healed nor firmly bandaged to make it strong enough to grasp the sword. ", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deal with Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the sound one and the injured, and make the sword drop from his hand. ", |
| "I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.", |
| "I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groans of one struck down. ", |
| "I will make firm the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fail. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he lifts it against the land of Egypt. ", |
| "I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Thus they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his hordes:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Who was comparable to you in greatness?</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With beautiful branches and shady thickets,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>shady thickets </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> <br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Of lofty stature,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With its top among leafy trees.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>leafy trees </b>Septuagint reads “clouds.”</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Waters nourished it,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The deep made it grow tall,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Washing with its streams</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The place where it was planted,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Making its channels well up</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To all</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>To all </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “more than for all.”</i> the trees of the field.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Therefore it exceeded in stature</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the trees of the field;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Its branches multiplied and its boughs grew long</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Because of the abundant water</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">That welled up for it.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In its branches nested</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the birds of the sky;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the beasts of the field</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Bore their young under its boughs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And in its shadow lived</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the great nations.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">It was beautiful in its height,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the length of its branches,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Because its stock stood</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By abundant waters.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Cedars in the garden of God</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Could not compare with it;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Cypresses could not match its boughs,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And plane trees could not vie with its branches;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">No tree in the garden of God</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Was its peer in beauty.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I made it beautiful</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the profusion of its branches;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And all the trees of Eden envied it</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In the garden of God.</span><br>", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because it<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>it </b>Heb. “you.”</i> towered high in stature, and thrust its top up among the leafy trees,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>leafy trees </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and it was arrogant in its height, ", |
| "I delivered it into the hands of the mightiest of nations. They treated it as befitted its wickedness. I banished it.", |
| "Strangers, the most ruthless of nations, cut it down and abandoned it; its branches fell on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs were splintered in every watercourse of the earth; and all the peoples of the earth departed from its shade and abandoned it. ", |
| "Upon its fallen trunk all the birds of the sky nest, and all the beasts of the field lodge among its boughs— ", |
| "so that no trees by water should exalt themselves in stature or set their tops among the leafy trees,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>leafy trees </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and that no well-watered tree may reach up to them in height. For they are all consigned to death, to the lowest part of the netherworld,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>lowest part of the netherworld </b>To which popular belief relegated those who died uncircumcised or by the sword; cf. v. 18.</i> together with human beings who descend into the Pit.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: On the day it went down to Sheol, I closed<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>closed </b>Cf. Aramaic <i>ʼabulla</i>, “gate.”</i> the deep over it and covered it; I held back its streams, and the great waters were checked. I made Lebanon mourn deeply for it, and all the trees of the field languished on its account. ", |
| "I made nations quake at the crash of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all that were well watered, were consoled in the lowest part of the netherworld. ", |
| "They also descended with it into Sheol, to those slain by the sword, together with its supporters,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>supporters </b>Heb. “arm.”</i> they who had lived under its shadow among the nations.", |
| "[Now you know] who is comparable to you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden. And you too shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lowest part of the netherworld; you shall lie among the uncircumcised and those slain by the sword. Such shall be [the fate of] Pharaoh and all his hordes—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "O mortal, intone a dirge over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Say to him:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">O great beast among the nations,</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>O great beast among the nations </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> you are doomed!<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">You are like the dragon in the seas,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thrusting through their</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>their </b>Heb. “your.”</i> streams,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Stirring up the water with your feet</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And muddying their streams!</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Thus said the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cast My net over you</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">In an assembly of many peoples,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And you shall be hauled up in My toils.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And I will fling you to the ground,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Hurl you upon the open field.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cause all the birds of the sky</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To settle upon you.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cause the beasts of all the earth</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To batten on you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cast your carcass upon the hills</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And fill the valleys with your rotting flesh.</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>rotting flesh </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will drench the earth</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">With your oozing blood upon the hills,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And the watercourses shall be filled with your [gore].</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When you are snuffed out,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cover the sky</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And darken its stars;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cover the sun with clouds</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And the moon shall not give its light.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the lights that shine in the sky</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will darken above you;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And I will bring darkness upon your land</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will vex the hearts of many peoples</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When I bring your shattered remnants</span><sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>shattered remnants </b>Septuagint reads “captives.”</i> among the nations,<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">To countries that you never knew.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will strike many peoples with horror over your fate;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And their kings shall be aghast over you,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When I brandish My sword before them.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Everyone shall tremble continually</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For their own life,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">On the day of your downfall.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">For thus said the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:<br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will cause your multitude to fall</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">By the swords of warriors,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">All the most ruthless among the nations.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall ravage the splendor of Egypt,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And all her masses shall be wiped out.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">I will make all her cattle vanish from beside abundant waters;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The feet of humans shall not muddy them anymore,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Nor shall the hoofs of cattle muddy them.</span>", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">Then I will let their waters settle,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And make their rivers flow like oil</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>:", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When I lay the land of Egypt waste,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When the land is emptied of [the life] that filled it,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">When I strike down all its inhabitants.</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">And they shall know that I am </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "<span class=\"poetry indentAll\">This is a dirge, and it shall be intoned;</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">The women of the nations shall intone it,</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAll\">They shall intone it over Egypt and all her multitude</span><br><span class=\"poetry indentAllDouble\">—declares the Sovereign </span> G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the month </b>Presumably the twelfth month; cf. v. 1.</i> the word of G<small>OD</small> came to me: ", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Construction of this verse uncertain.</i> O mortal, wail [the dirge]—along with the women of the mighty nations—over the masses of Egypt, accompanying their descent to the lowest part of the netherworld, among those who have gone down into the Pit. ", |
| "Whom do you surpass in beauty? Down with you, and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised! ", |
| "They shall lie amid those slain by the sword,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Whom do you surpass … by the sword </b>Cf. 31.18ff. and the second note at 31.14.</i> <sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Construction of this verse uncertain.</i> [amid those slain by] the sword [Egypt] has been dragged and left with all her masses.", |
| "From the depths of Sheol the mightiest of warriors speak to Pharaoh<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Pharaoh </b>Heb. “him”; cf. v. 2.</i> and his allies; the uncircumcised, the slain by the sword, have gone down and lie [there]. ", |
| "Assyria is there with all her company, their graves round about, all of them slain, fallen by the sword. ", |
| "Their graves set in the farthest recesses of the Pit, all her company are round about her tomb, all of them slain, fallen by the sword—they who struck terror in the land of the living. ", |
| "There too is Elam and all her masses round about her tomb, all of them slain, fallen by the sword—they who descended uncircumcised to the lowest part of the netherworld, who struck terror in the land of the living—now they bear their shame with those who have gone down to the Pit. ", |
| "They made a bed for her among the slain, with all her masses; their graves are round about her. They are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Though their terror was once spread over the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who have gone into the Pit; they are placed among the slain. ", |
| "Meshech and Tubal and all their masses are there; their graves are round about. They are all uncircumcised, pierced through by the sword—they who once struck terror in the land of the living. ", |
| "And they do not lie with the fallen uncircumcised warriors, who went down to Sheol with their battle gear, who put their swords beneath their heads and their iniquities<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>iniquities </b>Emendation yields “shields.”</i> upon their bones—for the terror of the warriors was upon the land of the living. ", |
| "And you too shall be shattered amid the uncircumcised, and lie among those slain by the sword. ", |
| "Edom is there, her kings and all her chieftains, who, for all their might, are laid among those who are slain by the sword; they too lie with the uncircumcised and with those who have gone down to the Pit. ", |
| "All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there, who went down in disgrace with the slain, despite the terror that their might inspired; and they lie, uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who have gone down to the Pit.", |
| "These Pharaoh shall see, and he shall be consoled for all his masses, those of Pharaoh’s men slain by the sword and all his army—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "I strike terror into the land of the living; Pharaoh<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I strike terror into the land of the living; Pharaoh </b>Emendation yields “because he struck terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh.”</i> and all his masses are laid among the uncircumcised, along with those who were slain by the sword—said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, speak to your people and say to them: When I bring the sword against a country, the citizens of that country take one of their number and appoint him their lookout. ", |
| "Suppose he sees the sword advancing against the country, and he blows the horn and warns the people. ", |
| "If anybody hears the sound of the horn but ignores the warning, and the sword comes and dispatches them, their blood shall be on their own head. ", |
| "Since they heard the sound of the horn but ignored the warning, their bloodguilt shall be upon themselves; had they taken the warning, they would have saved their life. ", |
| "But if the lookout sees the sword advancing and does not blow the horn, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and destroys one of them, that person was destroyed for their own sins; however, I will demand a reckoning for their blood from the lookout.", |
| "Now, O mortal, I have appointed you a lookout for the House of Israel; and whenever you hear a message from My mouth, you must transmit My warning to them. ", |
| "When I say to someone wicked, “Wicked one, you shall die,” but you have not spoken to warn them<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>them </b>Heb. “the wicked one.”</i> against their ways, then that wicked one shall die for their own iniquity, while from you I will demand a reckoning for their blood. ", |
| "But if you have warned someone wicked to turn back from their ways, and they have not turned from their ways, they shall die for their own iniquity, while you will have saved your life.", |
| "Now, O mortal, say to the House of Israel: This is what you have been saying: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh heavily upon us; we are sick at heart about them. How can we survive?” ", |
| "Say to them: As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —it is not My desire that the wicked shall die, but that the wicked turn from their [evil] ways and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, that you may not die, O House of Israel!", |
| "Now, O mortal, say to your people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not save them when they transgress, nor shall the wickedness of the wicked cause them to stumble when they turn back from their wickedness. The righteous shall not survive through their righteousness<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>their righteousness </b>Heb. “it.”</i> when they sin. ", |
| "When I say of the righteous “They shall surely live,” and, relying on their righteousness, they commit iniquity, none of their righteous deeds shall be remembered; but for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. ", |
| "So, too, when I say to the wicked, “You shall die,” and they turn back from their sinfulness and do what is just and right— ", |
| "if the wicked restore a pledge, make good what they have taken by robbery, follow the laws of life,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>laws of life </b>Cf. Lev. 18.5.</i> and do not commit iniquity—they shall live, they shall not die. ", |
| "None of the sins that they committed shall be remembered against them; since they do what is just and right, they shall live.", |
| "Your people say, “The Sovereign’s way is unfair.” But it is their way that is unfair! ", |
| "When someone righteous turns away from their righteous deeds to commit iniquity, they shall die for it.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>for it </b>Or “despite them,” i.e., their righteous deeds.</i> ", |
| "And when someone wicked turns back from wickedness and does what is just and right, it is they who shall live by virtue of these things. ", |
| "And will you say, “The Sovereign’s way is unfair”? I will judge each one of you according to your own ways, O House of Israel!", |
| "In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and reported, “The city has fallen.” ", |
| "Now G<small>OD</small>’s hand had come upon me the evening before the fugitive arrived, opening my mouth before he came to me in the morning; thus my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, those who live in these ruins in the land of Israel argue, “Abraham was but one man, yet he was granted possession of the land. We are many; surely, the land has been given as a possession to us.” ", |
| "Therefore say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: You eat with the blood, you raise your eyes to your fetishes, and you shed blood—yet you expect to possess the land! ", |
| "You men have relied on your sword, you have committed abominations, you have defiled one another’s wives—yet you expect to possess the land!", |
| "Thus shall you speak to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: As I live, those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and those who are in the open I have allotted as food to the beasts, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die by pestilence. ", |
| "I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud glory shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with none passing through. ", |
| "And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>, when I make the land a desolate waste on account of all the abominations that they have committed.", |
| "Note well, O mortal: your people who converse about you by the walls and in the doorways of their houses and say to each other and propose to one another, “Come and hear what word has issued from G<small>OD</small>.” ", |
| "They will come to you in crowds and sit before you in throngs<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>in crowds and sit before you in throngs </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Lit. “as a people come, and sit before you as My people.”</i> and will hear your words, but they will not obey them. For they produce nothing but lust with their mouths;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>they produce nothing but lust with their mouths </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and their hearts pursue nothing but gain. ", |
| "To them you are just a singer of bawdy songs, who has a sweet voice and plays skillfully; they hear your words, but will not obey them. ", |
| "But when the predicted punishment<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the predicted punishment </b>Heb. “it”; cf. vv. 27–28.</i> comes—and come it will—they shall know that a prophet has been among them." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, prophesy against the shepherds<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>shepherds </b>I.e., rulers.</i> of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them:<br>To the shepherds: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Ah, you shepherds of Israel, who have been tending yourselves! Is it not the flock that the shepherds ought to tend? ", |
| "You partake of the fat,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>fat </b>Septuagint and Vulgate, reading the Hebrew consonants with different vowels, translate “milk.”</i> you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not tend the flock. ", |
| "You have not sustained the weak, healed the sick, or bandaged the injured; you have not brought back the strayed, or looked for the lost; but you have driven them with harsh rigor, ", |
| "and they have been scattered for want of anyone to tend them; scattered, they have become prey for every wild beast. ", |
| "My sheep stray through all the mountains and over every lofty hill; My flock is scattered all over the face of the earth, with none to take thought of them and none to seek them. ", |
| "Hear then, O shepherds, the word of G<small>OD</small> ! ", |
| "As I live—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because My flock has been a spoil—My flock has been a prey for all the wild beasts, for want of anyone to tend them since My shepherds have not taken thought of My flock, for the shepherds tended themselves instead of tending the flock— ", |
| "hear indeed, O shepherds, the word of G<small>OD</small>: ", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deal with the shepherds! I will demand a reckoning of them for My flock, and I will dismiss them from tending the flock. The shepherds shall not tend themselves anymore; for I will rescue My flock from their mouths, and it shall not be their prey. ", |
| "For thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Here am I! I am going to take thought for My flock and I will seek them out.", |
| "As shepherds seek out their flock when some [animals] in their flock have gotten separated, so I will seek out My flock, I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of cloud and gloom. ", |
| "I will take them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land, and will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses and in all the settled portions of the land. ", |
| "I will feed them in good grazing land, and the lofty hills of Israel shall be their pasture. There, in the hills of Israel, they shall lie down in a good pasture and shall feed on rich grazing land. ", |
| "I Myself will graze My flock, and I Myself will let them lie down—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "I will look for the lost, and I will bring back the strayed; I will bandage the injured, and I will sustain the weak; and the fat and healthy ones I will destroy.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>destroy </b>Several ancient versions read “guard.”</i> I will tend them rightly.", |
| "And as for you, My flock, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to judge between one animal and another.<br>To the rams and the bucks: ", |
| "Is it not enough for you to graze on choice grazing ground, but you must also trample with your feet what is left from your grazing? And is it not enough for you to drink clear water,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>clear water </b>Lit. “water that has settled.”</i> but you must also muddy with your feet what is left? ", |
| "And must My flock graze on what your feet have trampled and drink what your feet have muddied?", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to them: Here am I, I am going to decide between the stout animals and the lean. ", |
| "Because you pushed with flank and shoulder against the feeble ones and butted them with your horns until you scattered them abroad, ", |
| "I will rescue My flock and they shall no longer be a spoil. I will decide between one animal and another.", |
| "Then I will appoint a single shepherd over them to tend them—My servant David. He shall tend them, he shall be a shepherd to them. ", |
| "I the E<small>TERNAL</small> One will be their God, and My servant David shall be a ruler among them—I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken. ", |
| "And I will grant them a covenant of friendship. I will banish vicious beasts from their land, and they shall live secure in the wasteland, they shall even sleep in the woodland. ", |
| "I will make these and the environs of My hill<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>these and the environs of My hill </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> a blessing: I will send down the rain in its season, rains that bring blessing. ", |
| "The trees of the field shall yield their fruit and the land shall yield its produce. [My people] shall continue secure on its own soil. They shall know that I am G<small>OD</small> when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from those who enslave them.", |
| "They shall no longer be a spoil for the nations, and the beasts of the earth shall not devour them; they shall dwell secure and untroubled. ", |
| "I shall establish for them a planting of renown;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>a planting of renown </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> they shall no more be carried off by famine, and they shall not have to bear again the taunts of the nations.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>taunts of the nations </b>Cf. 36.30.</i> ", |
| "They shall know that I the E<small>TERNAL</small> their God am with them and they, the House of Israel, are My people—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "For you—My flock, the flock that I tend—are human; and I am your God—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it. ", |
| "Say to it: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deal with you, Mount Seir: I will stretch out My hand against you and make you an utter waste. ", |
| "I will turn your towns into ruins, and you shall be a desolation; then you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Because you harbored an ancient hatred and handed the people of Israel over to the sword in their time of calamity, the time set for their punishment— ", |
| "assuredly, as I live, declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>, I will doom you with blood; blood shall pursue you; I swear that, for your bloodthirsty hatred, blood shall pursue you.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I will doom you … pursue you </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "I will make Mount Seir an utter waste, and I will keep all passersby away from it. ", |
| "I will cover its mountains with the slain; those slain by the sword shall lie on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your watercourses. ", |
| "I will make you a desolation for all time; your towns shall never be inhabited. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Because you thought “The two nations and the two lands shall be mine and we shall possess them”—although G<small>OD</small> was there<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>although G<small>OD</small> was there </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “and the Sovereign heard it.”</i> — ", |
| "assuredly, as I live, declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>, I will act with the same anger and passion that you acted with in your hatred of them. And I will make Myself known through them when I judge you. ", |
| "You shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have heard all the taunts you uttered against the hills of Israel: “They have been laid waste; they have been given to us as prey.” ", |
| "And you spoke arrogantly against Me and multiplied your words<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>multiplied your words </b>Emendation yields “and spoke arrogantly.”</i> against Me: I have heard it.", |
| "Thus said the E<small>TERNAL</small> God: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. ", |
| "As you rejoiced when the heritage of the House of Israel was laid waste, so will I treat you: the hill country of Seir and the whole of Edom, all of it, shall be laid waste. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "And you, O mortal, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of G<small>OD</small>:", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because the enemy gloated over you, “Aha! Those ancient heights have become our possession!” ", |
| "therefore prophesy, and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Just because they eagerly lusted to see you become a possession of the other nations round about, so that you have become the butt of gossip in every language and of the jibes from every people<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>they eagerly lusted … from every people </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> — ", |
| "truly, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to the mountains and the hills, to the watercourses and the valleys, and to the desolate wastes and deserted cities that have become a prey and a laughingstock to the other nations round about:", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I have indeed spoken in My blazing wrath against the other nations and against all of Edom that, with wholehearted glee and with contempt, have made My land a possession for themselves for pasture and for prey.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with wholehearted glee … for prey </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Yes, prophesy about the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Behold, I declare in My blazing wrath: Because you have suffered the taunting of the nations, ", |
| "thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I hereby swear that the nations that surround you shall, in their turn, suffer disgrace. ", |
| "But you, O mountains of Israel, shall yield your produce and bear your fruit for My people Israel, for their return is near. ", |
| "For I will care for you: I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. ", |
| "I will settle a large population on you, the whole House of Israel; the towns shall be resettled, and the ruined sites rebuilt. ", |
| "I will multiply human and animal upon you, and they shall increase and be fertile, and I will resettle you as you were formerly, and will make you more prosperous than you were at first. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "I will lead a multitude—My people Israel—to you, and they shall possess you. You shall be their heritage, and you shall not again cause them to be bereaved.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Because they say to you, “You are [a land] that devours humans, you have been a bereaver of your nations,”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>your nations </b>I.e., Israel and Judah; cf. 37.15–22.</i> ", |
| "assuredly, you shall devour humans no more, you shall never again bereave your nations—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "No more will I allow the jibes of the nations to be heard against you, no longer shall you suffer the taunting of the peoples; and never again shall you cause your nations to stumble<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>stumble </b>Many mss. read “be bereaved”; cf. vv. 13–14.</i> —declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, when the House of Israel dwelt on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their ways were in My sight like the impurity of a menstruous woman. ", |
| "So I poured out My wrath on them for the blood that they shed upon their land, and for the fetishes with which they defiled it. ", |
| "I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: I punished them in accordance with their ways and their deeds. ", |
| "But when they came to those nations,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>those nations </b>Lit. “the nations they came to there.”</i> they caused My holy name to be profaned,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>caused My holy name to be profaned </b>I.e., the exile of Israel was taken by the nations to be evidence of G<small>OD</small>’s weakness.</i> in that it was said of them, “These are G<small>OD</small>’s people, yet they had to leave their<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>their </b>Heb. “[God’s].”</i> land.” ", |
| "Therefore I am concerned for My holy name, which the House of Israel have caused to be profaned among the nations to which they have come.", |
| "Say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Not for your sake will I act, O House of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have caused to be profaned among the nations to which you have come. ", |
| "I will sanctify My great name that has been profaned among the nations—among whom you have caused it to be profaned. And the nations shall know that I am G<small>OD</small> —declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —when I manifest My holiness before their eyes through you.", |
| "I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you back to your own land. ", |
| "I will sprinkle pure water upon you, and you shall be purified: I will purify you from all your defilement and from all your fetishes. ", |
| "And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh;", |
| "and I will put My spirit into you. Thus I will cause you to follow My laws and faithfully to observe My rules.", |
| "Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be My people and I will be your God.", |
| "And when I have delivered you from all your impurity, I will summon the grain and make it abundant, and I will not bring famine upon you. ", |
| "I will make the fruit of your trees and the crops of your fields abundant, so that you shall never again be humiliated before the nations because of famine. ", |
| "Then you shall recall your evil ways and your base conduct, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abhorrent practices. ", |
| "Not for your sake will I act—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —take good note! Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, O House of Israel!", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: When I have purified you of all your iniquities, I will people your settlements, and the ruined places shall be rebuilt; ", |
| "and the desolate land, after lying waste in the sight of every passerby, shall again be tilled. ", |
| "And it shall be said, “That land, once desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities, once ruined, desolate, and ravaged, are now populated and fortified.” ", |
| "And the nations that are left around you shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have rebuilt the ravaged places and replanted the desolate land. I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken and will act.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Moreover, in this I will respond to the House of Israel and act for their sake: I will multiply their people like sheep. ", |
| "As Jerusalem is filled with sacrificial sheep during her festivals, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "G<small>OD</small>’s hand came upon me. I was taken out by the spirit of G<small>OD</small> and set down in the valley. It was full of bones.", |
| "[God] led me all around them; there were very many of them spread over the valley, and they were very dry. ", |
| "I was asked, “O mortal, can these bones live again?” I replied, “O my Sovereign G<small>OD</small>, only You know.” ", |
| "And I was told, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of G<small>OD</small> ! ", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again.", |
| "I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again. And you shall know that I am G<small>OD</small> !”", |
| "I prophesied as I had been commanded. And while I was prophesying, suddenly there was a sound of rattling, and the bones came together, bone to matching bone. ", |
| "I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had grown, and skin had formed over them; but there was no breath in them. ", |
| "Then [God] said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, O mortal! Say to the breath: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Come, O breath, from the four winds, and breathe into these slain, that they may live again.” ", |
| "I prophesied as I was commanded. The breath entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast multitude.", |
| "And I was told, “O mortal, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.’ ", |
| "Prophesy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of the graves, O My people, and bring you to the land of Israel. ", |
| "You shall know, O My people, that I am G<small>OD</small>, when I have opened your graves and lifted you out of your graves. ", |
| "I will put My breath into you and you shall live again, and I will set you upon your own soil. Then you shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, have spoken and have acted”—declares G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "And you, O mortal, take a stick and write on it, “Of Judah and the Israelites associated with him”; and take another stick and write on it, “Of Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the House of Israel associated with him.” ", |
| "Bring them close to each other, so that they become one stick, joined together in your hand. ", |
| "And when any of your people ask you, “Won’t you tell us what these actions of yours mean?” ", |
| "answer them, “Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in the hand of Ephraim—and of the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place the stick of Judah upon it<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>upon it </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and make them into one stick; they shall be joined in My hand.” ", |
| "You shall hold up before their eyes the sticks that you have inscribed, ", |
| "and you shall declare to them: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to take the Israelite people from among the nations they have gone to, and gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. ", |
| "I will make them a single nation in the land, on the hills of Israel, and one king shall be king of them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. ", |
| "Nor shall they ever again defile themselves by their fetishes and their abhorrent things, and by their other transgressions. I will save them in all their settlements where they sinned, and I will purify them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.", |
| "My servant David shall be king over them; there shall be one shepherd for all of them. They shall follow My rules and faithfully obey My laws.", |
| "Thus they shall remain in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob and in which your ancestors dwelt; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, with My servant David as their prince for all time. ", |
| "I will make a covenant of friendship with them—it shall be an everlasting covenant with them—I will establish<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>establish </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> them and multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary among them forever. ", |
| "My Presence<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Presence </b>Lit. “dwelling place.”</i> shall rest over them; I will be their God and they shall be My people. ", |
| "And when My Sanctuary abides among them forever, the nations shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, do sanctify Israel." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "The word of G<small>OD</small> came to me:", |
| "O mortal, turn your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him ", |
| "and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Lo, I am coming to deal with you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal! ", |
| "I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws, and lead you out with all your army, horses, and riders, all of them clothed in splendor, a vast assembly, all of them with bucklers and shields, wielding swords. ", |
| "Among them shall be Persia, Cush, and Put, everyone with shield and helmet; ", |
| "Gomer and all its cohorts, Beth-togarmah [in] the remotest parts of the north and all its cohorts—the many peoples with you.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with you </b>I.e., with Gog.</i> ", |
| "Be ready, prepare yourselves, you and all the battalions mustered about you, and hold yourself in reserve for them.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>them </b>Septuagint reads “Me.”</i> ", |
| "After a long time you shall be summoned; in the distant future you shall march against the land [of a people] restored from the sword, gathered from the midst of many peoples—against the mountains of Israel, which have long lain desolate—[a people] liberated from the nations, and now all dwelling secure. ", |
| "You shall advance, coming like a storm; you shall be like a cloud covering the earth, you and all your cohorts, and the many peoples with you.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: On that day, a thought will occur to you, and you will conceive a wicked design. ", |
| "You will say, “I will invade a land of open towns, I will fall upon a tranquil people living secure, all of them living in unwalled towns and lacking bars and gates, ", |
| "in order to take spoil and seize plunder”—to turn your hand against repopulated wastes, and against a people gathered from among nations, acquiring livestock and possessions, living at the center of the earth. ", |
| "Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants and all the magnates of Tarshish will say to you, “Have you come to take spoil? Is it to seize plunder that you assembled your hordes—to carry off silver and gold, to make off with livestock and goods, to gather an immense booty?”", |
| "Therefore prophesy, O mortal, and say to Gog: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Surely, on that day, when My people Israel are living secure, you will take note,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>take note </b>Septuagint reads “rouse yourself.”</i> ", |
| "and you will come from your home in the farthest north, you and many peoples with you—all of them mounted on horses, a vast horde, a mighty army— ", |
| "and you will advance upon My people Israel, like a cloud covering the earth. This shall happen on that distant day: I will bring you to My land, that the nations may know Me when, before their eyes, I manifest My holiness through you, O Gog!", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Why, you are the one I spoke of in ancient days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them!", |
| "On that day, when Gog sets foot on the soil of Israel—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —My raging anger shall flare up. ", |
| "For I have decreed in My indignation and in My blazing wrath: On that day, a terrible earthquake shall befall the land of Israel. ", |
| "The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that move on the ground, and every human being on earth shall quake before Me. Mountains shall be overthrown, cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall crumble to the ground. ", |
| "I will then summon the sword against him throughout My mountains<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I will then summon the sword against him throughout My mountains </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> —declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —and every man’s sword shall be turned against his kin. ", |
| "I will punish him with pestilence and with bloodshed; and I will pour torrential rain, hailstones, and sulfurous fire upon him and his hordes and the many peoples with him. ", |
| "Thus will I manifest My greatness and My holiness, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "And you, O mortal, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I am going to deal with you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal! ", |
| "I will turn you around and drive you on,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>drive you on </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and I will take you from the far north and lead you toward the mountains of Israel. ", |
| "I will strike your bow from your left hand and I will loosen the arrows from your right hand.", |
| "You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your battalions and the peoples who are with you; and I will give you as food to carrion birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field, ", |
| "as you lie in the open field. For I have spoken—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "And I will send a fire against Magog and against those who dwell secure in the coastlands. And they shall know that I am G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "I will make My holy name known among My people Israel, and never again will I let My holy name be profaned. And the nations shall know that I, G<small>OD</small>, am holy in Israel. ", |
| "Ah! it has come, it has happened—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: this is that day that I decreed.", |
| "Then the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out and make fires and feed them with the weapons—shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, clubs and spears; they shall use them as fuel for seven years. ", |
| "They will not gather firewood in the fields or cut any in the forests, but will use the weapons as fuel for their fires. They will despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "On that day I will assign to Gog a burial site there in Israel—the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It shall block the path of travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It shall be called the Valley of Gog’s Multitude. ", |
| "The House of Israel shall spend seven months burying them, in order to purify the land; ", |
| "all the people of the land shall bury them. The day I manifest My glory shall bring renown to them<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>The day I manifest My glory shall bring renown to them </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> —declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "And they shall appoint members of a corps to traverse the land and bury any invaders who remain above ground, in order to purify it. The search shall go on for a period of seven months. ", |
| "As those who traverse the country make their rounds, any one of them who sees a human bone shall erect a marker beside it, until the buriers have interred them in the Valley of Gog’s Multitude. ", |
| "There shall also be a city named Multitude.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>There shall also be a city named Multitude </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> And thus the land shall be purified.", |
| "And you, O mortal, say to every winged bird and to all the wild beasts: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Assemble, come and gather from all around for the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you—a great sacrificial feast—upon the mountains of Israel, and eat flesh and drink blood. ", |
| "You shall eat the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth: rams, lambs, he-goats, and bulls—fatlings of Bashan all of them. ", |
| "You shall eat fat to satiety and drink your fill of blood from the sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you.", |
| "And you shall sate yourselves at My table with horses, charioteers,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>charioteers </b>Lit. “chariots”; Septuagint reads “riders.”</i> warriors, and all soldiers—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Thus will I manifest My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see the judgment that I executed and the power that I wielded against them.", |
| "From that time on, the House of Israel shall know that I the E<small>TERNAL</small> am their God. ", |
| "And the nations shall know that the House of Israel were exiled only for their iniquity, because they trespassed against Me, so that I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. ", |
| "When I hid My face from them, I dealt with them according to their impurity and their transgressions.", |
| "Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and take the whole House of Israel back in love; and I will be zealous for My holy name. ", |
| "They will bear<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>bear </b>Change of diacritical point yields “forget.”</i> their shame and all their trespasses that they committed against Me, when they dwell in their land secure and untroubled, ", |
| "when I have brought them back from among the peoples and gathered them out of the lands of their enemies and have manifested My holiness through them in the sight of many nations.", |
| "They shall know that I the E<small>TERNAL</small> am their G<small>OD</small> when, having exiled them among the nations, I gather them back into their land and leave none of them behind. ", |
| "I will never again hide My face from them, for I will pour out My spirit upon the House of Israel—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "In the twenty-fifth year of our exile,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>our exile </b>I.e., the exile of King Jehoiachin; see 1.2.</i> the fourteenth year after the city had fallen, at the beginning of the year, the tenth day of the month—on that very day—G<small>OD</small>’s hand came upon me, and it brought me there. ", |
| "It brought me, in divine visions, to the Land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>very high mountain </b>Cf. Isa. 2.2; Mic. 4.1.</i> on which there seemed to be the outline of a city on the south.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on the south </b>Septuagint reads “in the distance.”</i> ", |
| "It brought me over to it, and there, standing at the gate, was a figure who shone like copper. In his hand were a cord of linen and a measuring rod. ", |
| "He spoke to me: “Mortal, look closely and listen attentively and note well everything I am going to show you—for you have been brought here in order to be shown—and report everything you see to the House of Israel.”", |
| "Along the outside of the temple [area] ran a wall on every side. The rod that the figure held was six cubits long, plus one handbreadth for each cubit; and when he applied it to that structure, it measured one rod deep<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>deep </b>In this chapter’s descriptions, the Hebrew word that ordinarily corresponds to English “width” sometimes designates a measurement from an opening or outer surface inward, and so corresponds to the English “depth”; and the word that ordinarily corresponds to English “length” designates the distance from side to side of a vestibule or a passage, and so corresponds to the English “width.”</i> and one rod high.", |
| "He went up to the gate that faced eastward and mounted its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep—the one threshold was one rod deep.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the one threshold was one rod deep </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Each recess was one rod wide<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>wide </b>See note at v. 5.</i> and one rod deep, with [a partition of] 5 cubits between recesses; and the threshold of the gate, at the inner vestibule of the gate, was one rod deep. ", |
| "For when he measured it at the inner vestibule of the gate, it was one rod [deep].<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>For when he measured … one rod [deep] </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Next he measured the vestibule of the gate, and it measured 8 cubits and its supports 2 cubits; the vestibule of the gate was at its inner end. ", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\">This verse would read well before v. 7.</i> On either side of this eastern gate there were three recesses, all three of the same size; of identical sizes were also the supports<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>supports </b>In connection with recesses, the “supports” are partitions.</i> on either side. ", |
| "He measured the opening of the gate and found it 10 cubits wide, while the gate itself measured 13 cubits across.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\">The opening was perhaps narrowed by a stone on each side for receiving the hinge of a door-leaf.</i> ", |
| "At the fronts of the recesses on either side were barriers of one cubit;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>barriers of one cubit </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> the recesses on either side were 6 cubits [deep]. ", |
| "Their openings faced each other directly across the gate passage, so that when he measured from rear<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>rear </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of recess to rear<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>rear </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of recess he obtained a width of 25 cubits.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>25 cubits </b>Since each of the recesses was 6 cubits deep (v. 7a) and the passage in the middle was 13 cubits wide (v. 11).</i> ", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">o</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Meaning of verse uncertain.</i> He made the vestibule<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">p</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>vestibule </b>Here, <i>ʼelim</i> is the same as <i>ʼelam</i> in vv. 16, 21, 22, etc.</i> —60 cubits—and the gate next to the support on every side of the court. ", |
| "And [the distance] from the front of the outer<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">q</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>outer </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> gate to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was 50 cubits. ", |
| "The recesses—and their supports—had windows with frames<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">r</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with frames </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> on the interior of the gate complex on both sides, and the interiors of the vestibules also had windows on both sides; and the supports were adorned with palms.", |
| "He took me into the outer court. There were chambers there, and there was a pavement laid out all around the court. There were 30 chambers on the pavement. ", |
| "The pavements flanked the gates; the depth of the lower pavements<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">s</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>lower pavements </b>The outer court and its gates were 8 steps lower than the inner ones; cf. v. 34.</i> paralleled that of the gates. ", |
| "Then he measured the width of the lower court,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">t</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>lower court </b>See note at v. 18.</i> from in front of the inner gate to in front of the outer gate<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">u</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the lower court, from in front of the inner gate to in front of the outer gate </b>In this rendering, the adjectives “lower” and “inner” are construed, not with the nouns they stand next to in the Hebrew, but with those with which they agree in gender.</i> —100 cubits.<br>After the east [gate], the north [gate].<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">v</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>After the east [gate], the north [gate] </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "Next he measured the gate of the outer court that faced north: its length and its width, ", |
| "its three recesses on either side and its supports, as also its vestibule. It measured, like the first gate, 50 cubits in length and 25 cubits in width. ", |
| "Its windows and [those of] its vestibule, as also its palm trees, corresponded to those of the gate that faced east. [From the outside] one had to climb 7 steps to reach it, and its vestibule was ahead of them.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">w</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>ahead of them </b>Septuagint reads “at its inner end.”</i> ", |
| "Like the east gate, the north gate faced a gate leading into the inner forecourt; and when he measured the distance from gate to gate, it was 100 cubits.", |
| "Then he took me to the south side. There was also a gate on the south side, and he got the same measurements as before for its supports and its vestibule. ", |
| "Both it and its vestibule had windows like the aforementioned ones. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.", |
| "Its staircase consisted of 7 steps; its vestibule was ahead of them,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">x</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>ahead of them </b>See note at v. 22.</i> and its supports were decorated on both sides with palm trees. ", |
| "The inner court likewise had a gate facing south; and on the south side, too, he measured a distance of 100 cubits from the [outer] gate to the [inner] gate.", |
| "He now took me into the inner forecourt through its south gate. When he measured this south gate, it had the same measurements as the foregoing. ", |
| "Its recesses, its supports, and its vestibule had the same measurements. Both it and its vestibule had windows on both sides; it was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide— ", |
| "vestibules on both sides, 25 cubits long, 5 cubits wide.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">y</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>vestibules on both sides, 25 cubits long, 5 cubits wide </b>Connection unclear; wanting in some Heb. mss. and versions.</i> ", |
| "Its vestibule, however, gave on the outer court.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">z</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>gave on the outer court </b>I.e., in the inner gates the vestibules were situated at their entrances, and so they were true vestibules, in contrast to the “inner vestibules” of the outer gates.</i> Its supports were adorned on either side with palms, and its staircase consisted of 8 steps.", |
| "Then he took me to the eastern side of the inner forecourt; and when he measured the gate there, he got the same measurements: ", |
| "its recesses, supports, and vestibule had the above measurements. Both it and its vestibule had windows on both sides; it was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide, ", |
| "and its vestibule gave on the outer court. Its supports were decorated on both sides with palm trees, and its staircase consisted of 8 steps.", |
| "Then he took me to the north gate, and found its measurements to be identical, ", |
| "with the same recesses, supports, vestibule, windows on both sides, and a length of 50 cubits and a width of 25 cubits. ", |
| "Its supports<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>supports </b>Septuagint reads “vestibules”; cf. vv. 31, 34.</i> gave on the outer court; its supports were decorated on both sides with palm trees; and its staircase consisted of eight steps.", |
| "A chamber opened into the gate;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>gate </b>Heb. “gates”; the reference is apparently to the north gate; cf. v. 40 and Lev. 1.11; 4.24; 7.2.</i> there the burnt offering would be washed. ", |
| "And inside the vestibule of the gate, there were two tables on each side, at which the burnt offering, the purgation offering, and the reparation offering were to be slaughtered; ", |
| "while outside—as one goes up toward<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>as one goes up toward </b>Emendation yields “the vestibule at.”</i> the opening of the north gate—there were two tables on one side, and there were two tables on the other side of the gate’s vestibule. ", |
| "Thus there were four tables on either flank of the gate—eight tables in all—at which [the sacrifices] were to be slaughtered.", |
| "As for the four tables for the burnt offering<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>burnt offering </b>See v. 39.</i> —they were of hewn stone, one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one cubit high—on them were laid out the instruments with which burnt offerings and sacrifices were slaughtered.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on them were laid out the instruments with which burnt offerings and sacrifices were slaughtered </b>This clause would read well after v. 43.</i> ", |
| "Shelves,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Shelves </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> one handbreadth wide, were attached all around the inside; and the sacrificial flesh was [laid] on the tables.", |
| "There were chambers for singers<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>chambers for singers </b>Septuagint reads “two chambers.”</i> in the inner forecourt: [one] beside the north gate facing south, and one beside the east<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>east </b>Septuagint reads “south.”</i> gate facing north. ", |
| "[The figure] explained to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who perform the duties of the temple;", |
| "and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who perform the duties of the altar—they are the descendants of Zadok, who alone of the descendants of Levi may approach G<small>OD</small> to be in attendance.”", |
| "He then measured the forecourt: 100 cubits long and 100 cubits broad—foursquare. In front of the temple stood the altar.", |
| "He took me into the portico of the temple and measured it. The jambs<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>jambs </b>I.e., the edges of the flanking walls.</i> of the portico were 5 cubits deep on either side. The width of the gate-opening was [14 cubits, and the flanking wall of the gate was]<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>[14 cubits, and the flanking wall of the gate was] </b>Preserved in the Septuagint.</i> 3 cubits on either side. ", |
| "The portico was 20 cubits wide and 11<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>11 </b>Septuagint reads “12”; see note at 41.13.</i> cubits deep, and it was by steps that it was reached.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>it was by steps that it was reached </b>Septuagint reads “it was reached by ten steps.”</i> There were columns by the jambs on either side." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "He then led me into the great hall. He measured the jambs, 6 cubits on either side; such was the depth<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>depth </b>See note at 40.5.</i> of each jamb.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>jamb </b>This sense is demanded by the context; usually, <i>ʼohel</i> means “tent.”</i> ", |
| "The entrance was 10 cubits wide, and the flanking walls of the entrance were each 5 cubits wide. Next he measured the depth [of the hall], 40 cubits, and the width, 20 cubits. ", |
| "And then he entered the inner room. He measured each jamb of the entrance, 2 cubits [deep]; the entrance itself, 6 cubits across; and the width of [the flanking wall on either side of]<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>[the flanking wall on either side of] </b>Preserved in the Septuagint.</i> the entrance, 7 cubits. ", |
| "Then he measured the depth, 20 cubits; and the width at the inner end of the great hall was also 20 cubits. And he said to me, “This is the Holy of Holies.”", |
| "Then he measured the wall of the temple. [It was] 6 cubits [thick] on every side of the temple, and the side-chamber measured 4 cubits [across].<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>6 cubits [thick] … 4 cubits [across] </b>On the ground level; cf. v. 7.</i> ", |
| "The side chambers were arranged one above the other, in 33 sections.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>sections </b>Lit. “times.” Emendation yields “in three sections of three tiers each,” i.e., one section next to each of the two side walls of the temple and one next to its rear wall; cf. v. 7.</i> All around, there were projections in the temple wall to serve the side chambers as supports, so that [their] supports should not be the temple wall itself. ", |
| "The winding passage<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>winding passage </b>So Targum; cf. Mishnah Tamid 1.1.</i> of the side chambers widened from story to story; and since the structure was furnished all over with winding passages from story to story, the structure itself became wider from story to story.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>and since the structure was furnished … wider from story to story </b>Exact meaning of Heb. uncertain, but for the general sense cf. 1 Kings 6.6a, 8b.</i> It was by this means that one ascended from the bottom story to the top one by way of the middle one.", |
| "I observed that the temple was surrounded by a raised pavement—the foundations of the side chambers; its elevation was a rod’s length, or 6 cubits. ", |
| "The outer wall of the side chamber was 5 cubits thick, and that which served as a walk between the Temple’s side chambers ", |
| "and the chamber complexes<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>chamber complexes </b>See 42.1ff.</i> was 20 cubits wide all around the temple. ", |
| "Of entrances to the side chambers giving on the walk, there was one entrance on the north side and one entrance on the south side; and the space<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>space </b>Emendation yields “parapet.”</i> of the walk was 5 cubits thick all around. ", |
| "And the structure that fronted on the vacant space at the [Temple’s] western end was 70 cubits deep; the walls of the structure were 5 cubits thick on every side; and it was 90 cubits wide.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>wide </b>See note at 40.5.</i> ", |
| "He measured the [total] depth of the temple, 100 cubits;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>100 cubits </b>Comprising the 5 cubits of 40.48, the 12 of 40.49 (see note there), the 6 of 41.1, the 40 of 41.2, the 2 of 41.3, the 20 of 41.4, the 6 of 41.5a, the 4 of 41.5b, and the 5 of 41.9.</i> and the depth of the vacant space and of the structure, with its walls, also came to 100 cubits.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>100 cubits </b>The structure was 70 cubits deep and its front and rear walls each 5 cubits thick (v. 12). The remaining 20 cubits are accounted for by the vacant space; cf. 42.1–2.</i> ", |
| "The front side of the temple, like the vacant space on the east, was 100 cubits wide.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>100 cubits wide </b>To the inside width of 20 cubits (40.49; 41.2–4) must be added on each side: one temple wall of 6 cubits equals 12; one side-chamber wall of 5 cubits equals 10; one side chamber’s inner depth of 4 cubits equals 8; a walk’s width of 20 cubits (40.9–10) equals 40; and a parapet’s thickness of 5 cubits (v. 11) equals 10; totaling 100 cubits.</i> ", |
| "He also measured the width of the structure facing the vacant space in the rear, inclusive of its ledges,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>ledges </b>Emendation yields “walls”; cf. v. 12.</i> 100 cubits.<br>Both the great hall inside and the portico next to the court— ", |
| "the thresholds<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">o</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the thresholds </b>Septuagint reads “were paneled.”</i> —and the windows with frames<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">p</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with frames </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and the ledges<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">q</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>ledges </b>Here perhaps designating the door frames, since it is these that (as required by the continuation of the verse) are situated at the threshold and consist of three parts (a lintel and two doorposts).</i> at the threshold, all over the three parts of each, were completely overlaid<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">r</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>overlaid </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> with wood. There was wainscoting from the floor to the windows, including the window [frame]s ", |
| "and extending above the openings, both in the inner temple and outside.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">s</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>both in the inner temple and outside </b>Meaning perhaps the great hall and the vestibule; cf. v. 5.</i> And all over the wall, both in the inner one and in the outer,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">t</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>both in the inner one and in the outer </b>See preceding note.</i> ran a pattern.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">u</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>pattern </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "It consisted of cherubs and palm trees, with a palm tree between every two cherubs. Each cherub had two faces: ", |
| "a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side and a lion’s face turned toward the palm tree on the other side. This was repeated all over the temple;", |
| "the cherubs and the palm trees were carved on<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">v</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on </b>Heb. “and.”</i> the wall from the floor to above the openings.<br>As regards the great hall, ", |
| "the great hall had four doorposts; and before the Shrine was something resembling", |
| "a wooden altar 3 cubits high and 2 cubits long and having inner corners;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">w</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>inner corners </b>Apparently meaning that it had a rim around the top, like the table of Exod. 25.25; see the final note on the present verse.</i> and its length<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">x</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>length </b>Septuagint reads “base.”</i> and its walls were of wood. And he said to me, “This is the table<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">y</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>table </b>Serving to hold the bread of display; cf. Exod. 25.30; 40.22–23; 1 Kings 7.48.</i> that stands before G<small>OD</small>.” ", |
| "The great hall had a double door, and the Shrine likewise had ", |
| "a double door, and each door had two swinging leaves:<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">z</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>swinging leaves </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> two for the one door and two such leaves<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>such leaves </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> for the other. ", |
| "Cherubs and palm trees were carved on these—on the doors of the hall—just as they were carved on the walls; and there was a lattice<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>lattice </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of wood outside in front of the portico. ", |
| "And there were windows with frames<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with frames </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> and palm trees on the flanking walls of the portico on either side [of the entrance] and [on] the Temple’s side chambers and [on] the lattices.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>and [on] the Temple’s side chambers and [on] the lattices </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> " |
| ], |
| [ |
| "He took me out, by way of the northern gate, into the outer court, and he led me [westward] up to a complex of chambers<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>complex of chambers </b>Heb. simply “chambers,” and so elsewhere.</i> that ran parallel to the northern ends of the vacant space and the structure. ", |
| "The width<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>width </b>See note at 40.5.</i> of its façade—its north side, the one from which it was entered<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>its north side, the one from which it was entered </b>Lit. “the north entrance”; but cf. v. 4.</i> —was 100 cubits, and its depth<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>depth </b>See note at 40.5.</i> was 50 cubits. ", |
| "At right angles to the 20 cubits<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the 20 cubits </b>I.e., the vacant space; cf. 41.13 and second note there.</i> of the inner court and to the pavement of the outer court,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>pavement of the outer court </b>Cf. 40.17.</i> the complex rose ledge by ledge<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>rose ledge by ledge </b>Because this part of the inner court was considerably higher than the outer; Cf. 40.28–31; 41.8, 9b–10.</i> in three tiers. ", |
| "There was an areaway, 10 cubits wide and a road of one cubit,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>a road of one cubit </b>Septuagint and Syriac read “and 100 cubits long”; cf. vv. 2–3.</i> running along the inner-court side of the chamber complex, but its entrances were on its north side. ", |
| "Here its upper chambers were cut back, because ledges took away from them as construction proceeded backward from the bottom ones and then from the middle ones. ", |
| "For they were arranged in three tiers, and they had no columns like those of the chambers in the courts.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>chambers in the courts </b>See vv. 8–9 referring to chambers along the west wall.</i> That is why the rise proceeded by stages: from the ground, from the bottom ones, and from the middle ones. ", |
| "In the outer court, a wall 50 cubits long ran parallel to the chamber complex up to the chambers in the outer court;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>chambers in the outer court </b>Cf. 40.17.</i> ", |
| "for the chambers in the outer court were themselves 50 cubits deep, thus completing 100 cubits alongside the edifice.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>edifice </b>Apparently meaning the chamber complex of v. 1.</i> ", |
| "Thus, at the foot of that complex of chambers ran a passage<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>passage </b>So <i>kethib</i>; <i>qere</i> “thing giving access.”</i> —of a width set by the wall in the outer court<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>of a width set by the wall in the outer court </b>Moved up from v. 10 for clarity.</i> —that one entered from the east in order to gain access to them from the outer court.", |
| "There was another chamber complex to the east<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>east </b>Septuagint reads “south”; cf. v. 13.</i> of the vacant space and the structure, ", |
| "likewise with a passage in front—just like the complex on the north side, with which this one agreed in width and depth and in the exact layout of its exits and entrances. ", |
| "Accordingly, the entrances to the chamber complex on the south side were approached from the east by the entrance at the head of the corresponding passage along the matching wall.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">o</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the corresponding passage along the matching wall </b>Exact meaning of Heb. uncertain; the phrase apparently refers to vv. 7–8.</i> ", |
| "And he said to me, “The northern chambers and the southern chambers by the vacant space are the consecrated chambers in which the priests who have access to G<small>OD</small> shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the purgation offerings, and the reparation offerings, for the place is consecrated. ", |
| "When the priests enter, they shall not proceed from the consecrated place to the outer court without first leaving here the vestments in which they minister; for the [vestments] are consecrated. Before proceeding to the area open to the people,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">p</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the area open to the people </b>Cf. 44.19 and note.</i> they shall put on other garments.”", |
| "When he had finished the measurements of the inner temple [area], he led me out by way of the gate that faces east, and he measured off the entire area. ", |
| "He measured the east side with the measuring rod, 500 [cubits]—in rods, by the measuring rod. He turned ", |
| "[and] measured the north side: 500 [cubits]—in rods, by the measuring rod. He turned ", |
| "[and] measured the south side: 500 [cubits]—in rods, by the measuring rod. ", |
| "Then he turned to the west side [and] measured it: 500 cubits—in rods, by the measuring rod. ", |
| "Thus he measured it on the four sides; it had a wall completely surrounding it, 500 [cubits] long on each side,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">q</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on each side </b>Lit. “and 500 wide.”</i> to separate the consecrated from the unconsecrated." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "Then he led me to a gate, the gate that faced east. ", |
| "And there, coming from the east with a roar like the roar of mighty waters, was the Presence of the God of Israel, and the earth was lit up by that Presence. ", |
| "The vision was like the vision I had seen when I<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>I </b>Six mss. and two ancient versions read “He.”</i> came to destroy the city, the very same vision that I had seen by the Chebar Canal. Forthwith, I fell on my face.", |
| "The Presence of G<small>OD</small> entered the temple by the gate that faced eastward.", |
| "A spirit carried me into the inner court, and lo, the Presence of G<small>OD</small> filled the temple; ", |
| "and I heard speech addressed to me from the temple, though that figure<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>that figure </b>I.e., the guide of 40.3–4.</i> was standing beside me. ", |
| "It said to me:<br>O mortal, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people Israel forever. The House of Israel and their kings must not again defile My holy name by their apostasy and by the corpses of their kings at their death.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>at their death </b>So with a number of Heb. mss. The usual vocalization yields “their shrines.”</i> ", |
| "When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts next to My doorposts with only a wall between Me and them,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>with only a wall between Me and them </b>The south wall of the First Temple enclosure was also the north wall of the royal enclosure; the two communicated by the Gate of the Guard (2 Kings 11.19). Thus temple and palace could be regarded as a single dwelling (“tent”) in the sense of Num. 19.14, and the death of a king in the palace would defile the temple. Hence the zoning provisions of 45.2ff.</i> they would defile My holy name by the abominations that they committed, and I consumed them in My anger. ", |
| "Therefore, let them put their apostasy and the corpses of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell among them forever.", |
| "[Now] you, O mortal, describe the temple to the House of Israel,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>describe the temple to the House of Israel </b>In accordance with the three preceding chapters; cf. 40.4.</i> and let them measure its design. But let them be ashamed of their iniquities: ", |
| "When they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple and its layout, its exits and entrances—its entire plan, and all the laws and instructions pertaining to its entire plan. Write it down before their eyes, that they may faithfully follow its entire plan and all its laws. ", |
| "Such are the instructions for the temple on top of the mountain: the entire area of its enclosure shall be most holy. Thus far the instructions for the temple.", |
| "<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\">Some of the terms and details in vv. 13–17 are obscure.</i> And these are the dimensions of the altar, in cubits where each is a cubit and a handbreadth. The trench<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>trench </b>Lit. “bosom.”</i> shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim one span high around its edge. And the height<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>height </b>Lit. “bulge.”</i> shall be as follows: ", |
| "From the trench in the ground to the lower ledge, which shall be a cubit wide: 2 cubits; from the lower ledge to the upper<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>lower ledge to the upper </b>Lit. “lesser ledge to the greater.”</i> ledge, which shall likewise be a cubit wide: 4 cubits; ", |
| "and the height of the altar hearth shall be 4 cubits, with 4 horns projecting upward from the hearth: 4 cubits. ", |
| "Now the hearth shall be 12 cubits long and 12 broad, square, with 4 equal sides. ", |
| "Hence, the [upper] base<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>base </b>Heb. <i>ʻazarah</i>, which in v. 14 means “ledge.” The altar consists of 3 blocks, each smaller than the one below it.</i> shall be 14 cubits broad, with 4 equal sides. The surrounding rim shall be half a cubit [high],<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>[high] </b>Half a cubit is identical with the one span of v. 13.</i> and the surrounding trench shall measure one cubit. And the ramp<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>ramp </b>Leading up to the altar; cf. Exod. 20.23.</i> shall face east.", |
| "Then that figure<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>that figure </b>Heb. “he.” See note at v. 6.</i> said to me: O mortal, thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: These are the directions for the altar on the day it is erected, so that burnt offerings may be offered up on it and blood dashed against it. ", |
| "You shall give to the levitical priests who are of the stock of Zadok, and so eligible to minister to Me—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —a young bull of the herd for a purgation offering. ", |
| "You shall take some of its blood and apply it to the four horns [of the altar],<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the four horns [of the altar] </b>Heb. “its four horns.”</i> to the four corners of the base, and to the surrounding rim; thus you shall purge it and perform purification upon it. ", |
| "Then you shall take the bull of purgation offering and burn it in the designated area<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">o</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>designated area </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “burning place”; cf. Lev. 6.2; Isa. 33.14; Ps. 102.4 (for the word), and Lev. 4.12; 6.4 (for the place).</i> of the temple, outside the Sanctuary.", |
| "On the following day, you shall offer a goat without blemish as a purgation offering; and the altar shall be purged [with it] just as it was purged with the bull. ", |
| "When you have completed the ritual of purging, you shall offer a bull of the herd without blemish and a ram of the flock without blemish. ", |
| "Offer them to G<small>OD</small>; let the priests throw salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "Every day, for seven days, you shall present a goat of purgation offering, as well as a bull of the herd and a ram of the flock; you<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">p</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>you </b>Heb. “they.”</i> shall present unblemished ones. ", |
| "Seven days they shall purge the altar and purify it; thus shall it be consecrated.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">q</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>thus shall it be consecrated </b>Lit. “they shall fill its hands”; cf. note at Exod. 28.41.</i> ", |
| "And when these days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being on the altar; and I will extend My favor to you—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "Then he led me back to the outer gate of the Sanctuary that faced eastward; it was shut.", |
| "And G<small>OD</small> said to me: This gate is to be kept shut and is not to be opened! Absolutely no one shall enter by it because the E<small>TERNAL</small>, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. ", |
| "Only the prince may sit in it and eat bread before G<small>OD</small>, since he is a prince; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the vestibule of the gate </b>This does not contradict v. 2 because the vestibule is at the inner end of the gate; cf. 40.9.</i> and shall depart by the same way.", |
| "Then he led me, by way of the north gate, to the front of the temple. I looked, and lo! the Presence of G<small>OD</small> filled the Temple of G<small>OD</small>; and I fell upon my face. ", |
| "Then G<small>OD</small> said to me: O mortal, mark well, look closely and listen carefully to everything that I tell you regarding all the laws of the Temple of G<small>OD</small> and all the instructions regarding it. Note well who may enter the temple and all who must be excluded from the Sanctuary. ", |
| "And say to the rebellious House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Too long, O House of Israel, have you committed all your abominations, ", |
| "admitting aliens, uncircumcised of spirit and uncircumcised of flesh, to be in My Sanctuary and profane My very Temple, when you offer up My food—the fat and the blood. You<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>You </b>Heb. “They.”</i> have broken My covenant with all your abominations. ", |
| "You have not discharged the duties concerning My sacred offerings, but have appointed them to discharge the duties of My Sanctuary for you.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Let no alien, uncircumcised in spirit and flesh, enter My Sanctuary—no alien whatsoever among the people of Israel. ", |
| "But the Levites who forsook Me when Israel went astray—straying from Me to follow their fetishes—shall suffer their punishment:", |
| "They shall be servitors in My Sanctuary, appointed over the Temple gates, and performing the chores of My Temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people. They shall attend on them and serve them. ", |
| "Because they served the House of Israel in the presence of their fetishes and made them stumble into guilt, therefore—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small> —I have sworn concerning them that they shall suffer their punishment: ", |
| "They shall not approach Me to serve Me as priests, to come near any of My sacred offerings, the most holy things. They shall bear their shame for the abominations that they committed. ", |
| "I will appoint them to attend to the duties of the temple, to perform all its chores, everything that needs to be done in it.", |
| "But the levitical priests descended from Zadok,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>But the levitical priests descended from Zadok </b>By contrast with the Levite-priests whose demotion has just been announced.</i> who maintained the service of My Sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from Me—they shall approach Me to minister to Me; they shall stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "They alone may enter My Sanctuary and they alone shall approach My table to minister to Me; and they shall keep My charge.", |
| "And when they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen vestments: they shall have nothing woolen upon them when they minister inside the gates of the inner court. ", |
| "They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen breeches on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.", |
| "When they go out to the outer court—the outer court where the people are—they shall remove the vestments in which they minister and shall deposit them in the sacred chambers;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>sacred chambers </b>Cf. 42.13–14.</i> they shall put on other garments, lest they make the people consecrated<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>consecrated </b>Thereby rendering the people unfit for ordinary activity.</i> by [contact with] their vestments. ", |
| "They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair go untrimmed; they shall keep their hair trimmed.", |
| "No priest shall drink wine when he enters into the inner court.", |
| "They shall not marry widows or divorced women of the stock of the House of Israel, but only virgins;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>of the stock of the House of Israel, but only virgins </b>Phrases transposed for clarity.</i> or they may marry widows who are widows of priests.", |
| "They shall declare to My people what is sacred and what is profane, and inform them what is pure and what is impure. ", |
| "In lawsuits, too, it is they who shall act as judges; they shall decide them in accordance with My rules. They shall preserve My teachings and My laws regarding all My fixed occasions; and they shall maintain the sanctity of My sabbaths.", |
| "[A priest] shall not defile himself by entering [a house] where there is a dead person. He shall defile himself only for father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister. ", |
| "After he has become pure, seven days shall be counted off for him; ", |
| "and on the day that he reenters the inner court of the Sanctuary to minister in the Sanctuary, he shall present his purgation offering—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "This shall be their portion, for I am their portion; and no holding shall be given them in Israel, for I am their holding. ", |
| "The grain offerings, purgation offerings, and reparation offerings shall be consumed by them. Everything proscribed<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>proscribed </b>See Lev. 27.28.</i> in Israel shall be theirs. ", |
| "All the choice first fruits of every kind, and all the gifts of every kind—of all your contributions—shall go to the priests. You shall further give the first of the yield of your baking<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the first of the yield of your baking </b>See Num. 15.20–21.</i> to the priest, that a blessing may rest upon your home.", |
| "Priests shall not eat anything, whether bird or animal, that died or was torn by beasts." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside from the land, as a gift sacred to G<small>OD</small>, an area<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>area </b>Lit. “length.”</i> 25,000 [cubits] long and 10,000<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>10,000 </b>Septuagint reads 20,000; cf. vv. 3–5.</i> wide: this shall be holy through its entire extent. ", |
| "Of this, a square measuring a full 500 by 500 shall be reserved for the Sanctuary,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>reserved for the Sanctuary </b>Cf. 42.15–20.</i> and 50 cubits for an open space all around it. ", |
| "Of the aforesaid area, you shall measure off, as most holy and destined to include the Sanctuary, [a space] 25,000 long by 10,000 wide; ", |
| "it is a sacred portion of the land; it shall provide space for houses for the priests, the ministrants of the Sanctuary who are qualified to minister to G<small>OD</small>, as well as holy ground for the Sanctuary. ", |
| "Another [space], 25,000 long by 10,000 wide, shall be the property of the Levites, the servants of the temple—twenty chambers.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>twenty chambers </b>Septuagint reads “for towns to dwell in.”</i> ", |
| "Alongside the sacred reserve, you shall set aside [a space] 25,000 long by 5,000 wide, as the property of the city; it shall belong to the whole House of Israel. ", |
| "And to the prince shall belong, on both sides of the sacred reserve and the property of the city and alongside the sacred reserve and the property of the city, on the west extending westward and on the east extending eastward, a portion<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>portion </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> corresponding to one of the [tribal] portions that extend from the western border to the eastern border ", |
| "of the land.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>[tribal] portions … of the land </b>Cf. 48.1–29.</i> That shall be his property in Israel; and My princes shall no more defraud My people, but shall leave the rest of the land to the several tribes of the House of Israel.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: Enough, princes of Israel! Make an end of lawlessness and rapine, and do what is right and just! Put a stop to your evictions of My people—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "Have honest balances, an honest <i>ephah</i>, and an honest <i>bath</i>.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b><i>ephah</i>…<i>bath</i> </b>Units of dry measure and liquid measure, respectively.</i> ", |
| "The <i>ephah</i> and the <i>bath</i> shall comprise the same volume, the <i>bath</i> a tenth of a <i>ḥomer</i> and the <i>ephah</i> a tenth of a <i>ḥomer</i>; their capacity shall be gauged by the <i>ḥomer</i>. ", |
| "And the shekel shall weigh 20 <i>gerah</i> s. 20 shekels, 25 shekels [and] 10 plus 5 shekels shall count with you as a <i>mina</i>.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>20 shekels, 25 shekels [and] 10 plus 5 shekels shall count with you as a <i>mina</i> </b>The Mesopotamian <i>mina</i> of 60 shekels; but meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> ", |
| "This is the contribution you shall make: One-sixth of an <i>ephah</i> from every <i>ḥomer</i> of wheat and one-sixth of an <i>ephah</i> from every <i>ḥomer</i> of barley, ", |
| "while the due from the oil—the oil being measured by the <i>bath</i> <sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the oil being measured by the <i>bath</i> </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> —shall be one-tenth of a <i>bath</i> from every <i>kor</i>.—As 10 <i>bath</i>s make a <i>ḥomer</i>, so 10 <i>bath</i>s make a <i>ḥomer</i>.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b><i>ḥomer</i> </b>The Vulgate reads “<i>kor</i>”; <i>ḥomer</i> and <i>kor</i> are synonyms.</i> — ", |
| "And [the due] from the flock shall be one animal from every 200. [All these shall be contributed] from Israel’s products<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">k</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>products </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and offerings of well-being, to make expiation for them—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>. ", |
| "In this contribution, the entire population must join with the prince in Israel.", |
| "But the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the libations on festivals, new moons, sabbaths—all fixed occasions—of the House of Israel shall be the obligation of the prince; he shall provide the purgation offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the offerings of well-being, to make expiation for the House of Israel.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: On the first day of the first month, you shall take a bull of the herd without blemish, and you shall cleanse the Sanctuary. ", |
| "The priest shall take some of the blood of the purgation offering and apply it to the doorposts of the temple, to the four corners of the ledge<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">l</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>ledge </b>Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> of the altar, and to the doorposts of the gate of the inner court. ", |
| "You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">m</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>on the seventh day of the month </b>Septuagint reads “in the seventh month.”</i> to purge the temple from impurity caused by unwitting or ignorant persons.", |
| "On the fourteenth day of the first month you shall have the passover sacrifice; and during a festival of seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.", |
| "On that day, the prince shall provide a bull of purgation offering on behalf of himself and of the entire population; ", |
| "and during the seven days of the festival, he shall provide daily—for seven days—seven bulls and seven rams, without blemish, for a burnt offering to G<small>OD</small>, and one goat daily for a purgation offering. ", |
| "He shall provide a grain offering of an <i>ephah</i> <sup class=\"footnote-marker\">n</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>grain offering of an <i>ephah</i> </b>Of choice flour.</i> for each bull and an <i>ephah</i> for each ram, with a <i>hin</i> of oil to every <i>ephah</i>. ", |
| "So, too, during the festival of the seventh month, for seven days from the fifteenth day on, he shall provide the same purgation offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be closed on the six working days; it shall be opened on the sabbath day and it shall be opened on the day of the new moon.", |
| "The prince shall enter by way of the vestibule outside the gate, and shall attend at the gatepost while the priests sacrifice his burnt offering and his offering of well-being; he shall then bow low at the threshold of the gate and depart. The gate, however, shall not be closed until evening. ", |
| "The common people<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>common people </b>I.e., those other than the priests, the Levites, and the prince; lit. “the people of the land.”</i> shall worship before G<small>OD</small> on sabbaths and new moons at the entrance of the same gate.", |
| "The burnt offering that the prince presents to G<small>OD</small> on the sabbath day shall consist of six lambs without blemish and one ram without blemish—", |
| "with a grain offering of an <i>ephah</i> for the ram, a grain offering of as much as he wishes for the lambs, and a <i>hin</i> of oil with every <i>ephah</i>. ", |
| "And on the day of the new moon, it shall consist of a bull of the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram—they shall be without blemish. ", |
| "And he shall provide a grain offering of an <i>ephah</i> for the bull, an <i>ephah</i> for the ram, and as much as he can afford for the lambs, with a <i>hin</i> of oil to every <i>ephah</i>.", |
| "When the prince enters, he shall come in by way of the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out the same way.", |
| "But on the fixed occasions, when the common people come before G<small>OD</small>, whoever enters by the north gate to bow low shall leave by the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate shall leave by the north gate. They shall not go back through the gate by which they came in, but shall go out by the opposite one.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>by the opposite one </b>Lit. “straight before him.”</i> ", |
| "And as for the prince, he shall enter with them when they enter and leave when they leave.", |
| "On festivals and fixed occasions, the grain offering shall be an <i>ephah</i> for each bull, an <i>ephah</i> for each ram, and as much as he wishes for the lambs, with a <i>hin</i> of oil for every <i>ephah</i>.", |
| "The gate that faces east shall also be opened for the prince whenever he offers a freewill offering—be it burnt offering or offering of well-being—freely offered to G<small>OD</small>, so that he may offer his burnt offering or his offering of well-being just as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall leave, and the gate shall be closed after he leaves.", |
| "Each day you shall offer a lamb of the first year without blemish, as a daily burnt offering to G<small>OD</small>; you shall offer one every morning. ", |
| "And every morning regularly you shall offer a grain offering with it: a sixth of an <i>ephah</i>, with a third of a <i>hin</i> of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to G<small>OD</small> —a law for all time. ", |
| "The lamb, the grain offering, and oil shall be presented every morning as a regular burnt offering.", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons, it shall become the latter’s inheritance; it shall pass on to his sons; it is their holding by inheritance. ", |
| "But if he makes a gift from his inheritance to any of his subjects, it shall only belong to the latter until the year of release.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>year of release </b>Cf. Lev. 25.10.</i> Then it shall revert to the prince; his inheritance must by all means pass on to his sons.", |
| "But the prince shall not take property away from any of the people and rob them of their holdings. Only out of his own holdings shall he endow his sons, in order that none of My people may be dispossessed of their holdings.", |
| "Then the guide<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the guide </b>Heb. “he”; see 40.3–4.</i> led me into the passage at the side of the gate to the sacred chambers of the priests, which face north, and there, at the rear of it, in the west, I saw a space. ", |
| "He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the reparation offerings and the purgation offerings, and where they shall bake the grain offerings, so as not to take them into the outer court and make the people consecrated.”<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>make the people consecrated </b>See the second note at 44.19.</i> ", |
| "Then he led me into the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court; and in each corner of the court there was an enclosure.", |
| "These unroofed<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>unroofed </b>So Mishnah Middoth 2.5; emendation yields “small.”</i> enclosures, [each] 40 [cubits] long and 30 wide, were in the four corners of the court; the four corner enclosures had the same measurements. ", |
| "[On the inside,] running round the four of them, there was a row of masonry, equipped with hearths under the rows all around. ", |
| "He said to me, “These are the kitchens where the temple servitors shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”" |
| ], |
| [ |
| "I was led back to the entrance of the temple, and I found that water was issuing from below the platform<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>platform </b>See note at 9.3.</i> of the temple—eastward, since the temple faced east—but the water was running out at the south of the altar,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>south of the altar </b>Connection unclear. Emendation yields “southeast.”</i> under the south wall of the temple. ", |
| "Then he led me out by way of the northern gate and led me around to the outside of the outer gate that faces in the direction of the east;<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>east </b>The end of the verse explains why he could not have made the detour by way of the south gate. For the reasons why he could not have proceeded to his present position directly by way of the east gate, see 43.1–2; 44.1–2.</i> and I found that water was gushing from [under] the south wall. ", |
| "As that figure<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>that figure </b>I.e., the guide introduced in 40.3–4.</i> went on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me across the water; the water was ankle deep. ", |
| "Then he measured off another thousand and led me across the water; the water was knee deep. He measured off a further thousand and led me across the water; the water was up to the waist.", |
| "When he measured yet another thousand, it was a stream I could not cross; for the water had swollen into a stream that could not be crossed except by swimming. ", |
| "“Do you see, O mortal?” he said to me; and he led me back to the bank of the stream.", |
| "As I came back, I saw trees in great profusion on both banks of the stream. ", |
| "“This water,” he told me, “runs out to the eastern region, and flows into the Arabah; and when it comes into the sea, into the sea of foul waters,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>the sea of foul waters </b>I.e., the Dead Sea.</i> the water will become wholesome. ", |
| "Every living creature that swarms will be able to live wherever this stream goes; the fish will be very abundant once these waters have reached there. It will be wholesome, and everything will live wherever this stream goes. ", |
| "Fishermen shall stand beside it all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it shall be a place for drying nets; and the fish will be of various kinds [and] most plentiful, like the fish of the Great Sea. ", |
| "But its swamps and marshes shall not become wholesome; they will serve to [supply] salt.", |
| "All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail; they will yield new fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the temple. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”", |
| "Thus said the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>: These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall receive two portions, ", |
| "and you shall share the rest equally. As I swore to give it to your fathers,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>fathers </b>See note at Josh. 1.6.</i> so shall this land fall to you as your heritage. ", |
| "These are the boundaries of the land:<br>As the northern limit: From the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, Lebo-hamath,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">g</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>-hamath </b>Moved up from v. 16 for clarity.</i> Zedad, ", |
| "Berathah, Sibraim—which lies between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath—[down to] Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ", |
| "Thus the boundary shall run from the Sea to Hazar-enon,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">h</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Hazar-enon </b>Apparently identical with Hazer-hatticon in v. 16.</i> to the north of the territory of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north of it. That shall be the northern limit.", |
| "As the eastern limit: A line between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel: with the Jordan as a boundary, you shall measure down to the Eastern Sea.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">i</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Eastern Sea </b>I.e., the Dead Sea.</i> That shall be the eastern limit.", |
| "The southern limit shall run: A line from Tamar to the Waters of Meribath-kadesh,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">j</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>Meribath-kadesh </b>Heb. “Meriboth-kadesh.”</i> along the Wadi [of Egypt and] the Great Sea. That is the southern limit.", |
| "And as the western limit: The Great Sea shall be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. That shall be the western limit.", |
| "This land you shall divide for yourselves among the tribes of Israel.", |
| "You shall allot it as a heritage for yourselves and for the strangers who reside among you, who have begotten children among you. You shall treat them as Israelite citizens; they shall receive allotments along with you among the tribes of Israel. ", |
| "You shall give the strangers an allotment within the tribe where they reside—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>." |
| ], |
| [ |
| "These are the names of the tribes:<br>At the northern end, along the Hethlon road, [from] Lebo-hamath to Hazar-enan—which is the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north—from the eastern border to the Sea: Dan—one [tribe].", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the eastern border to the western border: Asher—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the eastern border to the western border: Naphtali—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the eastern border to the western border: Manasseh—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the eastern border to the western border: Ephraim—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the eastern border to the western border: Reuben—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the eastern border to the western border: Judah—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the eastern border to the western border, shall be the reserve that you set aside: 25,000 [cubits] in breadth and in length equal to one of the portions from the eastern border to the western border; the Sanctuary shall be in the middle of it. ", |
| "The reserve that you set aside for G<small>OD</small> shall be 25,000 long and 10,000<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">a</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>10,000 </b>Emendation yields “25,000”; cf. 45.3–6.</i> wide. ", |
| "It shall be apportioned to the following: The sacred reserve for the priests shall measure 25,000 [cubits] on the north, 10,000 on the west, 10,000 on the east, and 25,000 on the south,<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">b</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>10,000 on the west, 10,000 on the east, and 25,000 on the south </b>Lit. “10,000 in breadth on the west; 10,000 in breadth on the east; and 25,000 in length on the south.”</i> with G<small>OD</small>’s Sanctuary in the middle of it. ", |
| "This consecrated area shall be for the priests of the line of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray, as the Levites did when the people of Israel went astray. ", |
| "It shall be a special reserve for them out of the [total] reserve from the land, most holy, adjoining the territory of the Levites. ", |
| "Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have [an area] 25,000 long by 10,000 wide; the total length shall be 25,000 and the breadth 10,000.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">c</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>10,000 </b>Septuagint reads “20,000”; cf. note at v. 9.</i> ", |
| "None of it—the choicest of the land—may be sold, exchanged, or transferred; it is sacred to G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "The remaining 5,000 in breadth by 25,000 shall be for common use—serving the city for dwellings and pasture. The city itself shall be in the middle of it; ", |
| "and these shall be its measurements: On the north side 4,500 cubits, on the south side 4,500, on the east side 4,500, and on the west side 4,500. ", |
| "The pasture shall extend 250 cubits to the north of the city, 250 to the south, 250 to the east, and 250 to the west. ", |
| "As for the remaining 10,000 to the east and 10,000 to the west, adjoining the long side<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">d</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>long side </b>I.e., the south side.</i> of the sacred reserve, the produce of these areas adjoining the sacred reserve shall serve as food for the workers in the city; ", |
| "the workers in the city from all the tribes of Israel shall cultivate it.", |
| "The entire reserve, 25,000 square, you shall set aside as the sacred reserve plus the city property. ", |
| "What remains on either side of the sacred reserve and the city property shall belong to the prince. The prince shall own [the land] from the border of the 25,000 of the reserve<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">e</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>of the reserve </b>Emendation yields “on the east.”</i> up to the eastern boundary, and from the border of the 25,000 on the west up to the western boundary, corresponding to the [tribal] portions. The sacred reserve, with the Temple Sanctuary in the middle of it ", |
| "and the property of the Levites and the city property as well, shall be in the middle of the [area belonging] to the prince; [the rest of the land] between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin shall belong to the prince.", |
| "As for the remaining tribes:<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">f</sup><i class=\"footnote\"><b>remaining tribes </b>The tribes not provided for in vv. 1–7, and lying south of the sacred reserve treated in vv. 8–22.</i> From the eastern border to the western border: Benjamin—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the eastern border to the western border: Simeon—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the eastern border to the western border: Issachar—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the eastern border to the western border: Zebulun—one.", |
| "Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the eastern border to the western border: Gad—one.", |
| "The other border of Gad shall be the southern boundary. This boundary shall run from Tamar to the Waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Wadi [of Egypt], and to the Great Sea.", |
| "That is the land that you shall allot as a heritage to the tribes of Israel, and those are their portions—declares the Sovereign G<small>OD</small>.", |
| "And these are the exits from the city: On its northern side, measuring 4,500 cubits, ", |
| "the gates of the city shall be—three gates on the north—named for the tribes of Israel: the Reuben Gate: one; the Judah Gate: one; the Levi Gate: one.", |
| "On the eastern side, [measuring] 4,500 cubits—there shall be three gates: the Joseph Gate: one; the Benjamin Gate: one; and the Dan Gate: one. ", |
| "On the southern side, measuring 4,500 cubits, there shall be three gates: the Simeon Gate: one; the Issachar Gate: one; and the Zebulun Gate: one. ", |
| "And on the western side, [measuring] 4,500 cubits—there shall be three gates: the Gad Gate: one; the Asher Gate: one; the Naphtali Gate: one.", |
| "Its circumference [shall be] 18,000 [cubits]; and the name of the city from that day on shall be “G<small>OD</small> Is There.”" |
| ] |
| ], |
| "versions": [ |
| [ |
| "THE JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition", |
| "https://jps.org/books/the-jps-tanakh-gender-sensitive-edition/" |
| ] |
| ], |
| "heTitle": "יחזקאל", |
| "categories": [ |
| "Tanakh", |
| "Prophets" |
| ], |
| "sectionNames": [ |
| "Chapter", |
| "Verse" |
| ] |
| } |
