Study Desk

"‘And the beauty of its ornament he made into a prideful thing and made with it their detestable things and their vile idols; therefore I will make it into an impure thing for them.

Make a chain for the land; it is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence.

And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.'"

And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz.

And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man? Was it too small a thing for the house of Judah to do the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and they provoked me to anger again, and look! They are putting the branch to their nose.

And look! Six men coming from the way of the upper gate that faced northward, and each with his weapon for shattering in his hand; and one man was in the midst of them, dressed in linen, and the writing case of the scribe was at his side. And they came and stood beside the bronze altar.

And he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and Yahweh does not see.

And there appeared for the cherubim the form of a human hand under their wings.

Their appearance was the same for each of the four of them, as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel.

When they went to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went, for the place to which the head turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going.

And their whole body, and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels for the four of them.

When they stood, they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

Each one had four faces, and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of human hands was under their wings.

It will not be as a pot to you, and so you would be in the midst of it as flesh, for at the border of Israel I will judge you.

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries to which they have gone.'"

"Son of man, you are dwelling in the midst of the house of rebellion who has eyes to see and they do not see; they have ears to hear, and they do not hear, for they are a house of rebellion.

And you, son of man, prepare for yourself the baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go into exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they are a house of rebellion.

Before their eyes dig through for yourself, through the wall, and you must bring the baggage out through it.

Before their eyes, on your shoulder, you must lift up the baggage in the dusk, and your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you as a sign to the house of Israel."

And I did just as I was commanded; my baggage, like the baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself into the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought the baggage on my shoulder; I carried it before their eyes.