Ezekiel 21-24

Holman Christian Standard Bible

God’s Sword of Judgment

21 ^[a]The word of the Lord came to me again: ² “Son of man, turn your face toward^(A) Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel, ³ and say to it: This is what the Lord says: I am against you.^(B) I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you. ⁴ Since I will cut off^[b] both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will therefore come out of its sheath against everyone from the south to the north.^{(C) 5} So all the people will know that I, Yahweh, have taken My sword from its sheath—it will not be sheathed again.^(D)

⁶ “But you, son of man, groan! Groan bitterly with a broken heart^[c] right before their eyes. ⁷ And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ then say: Because of the news that is coming.^(E) Every heart will melt, and every hand will become weak. Every spirit will be discouraged, and every knee will turn to water. Yes, it is coming and it will happen.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

⁸ The word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “Son of man, prophesy: This is what the Lord says! You are to proclaim:

¹⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁹ “Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon’s king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city. ²⁰ Mark out a road that the sword can take to Rabbah of the Ammonites^(N) and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. ²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the split in the road, at the fork of the two roads, to practice divination: he shakes the arrows, consults the idols, and observes the liver. ²² The answer marked^[i] Jerusalem appears in his right hand, indicating that he should set up battering rams,^(O) give the order to^[j] slaughter, raise a battle cry, set battering rams against the gates, build a ramp, and construct a siege wall. ²³ It will seem like false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn an oath to the Babylonians,^[k](P) but it will draw attention to their guilt so that they will be captured.

²⁴ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your actions, since you have done this, you will be captured by them.

²⁶ This is what the Lord God says:

²⁸ “Now prophesy, son of man, and say: This is what the Lord God says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt. You are to proclaim:

Indictment of Sinful Jerusalem

22 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her.^{(Z) 3} You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood^(AA) within her walls so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled! ⁴ You are guilty of the blood you have shed,^(AB) and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. ⁵ Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.

⁶ “Look, every prince of Israel^(AC) within you has used his strength to shed blood. ⁷ Father and mother are treated with contempt,^(AD) and the foreign resident is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you.^{(AE) 8} You despise My holy things and profane My Sabbaths.^{(AF) 9} There are men within you who slander in order to shed blood.^(AG) People who live in you eat at the mountain shrines; they commit immoral acts within you. ¹⁰ Men within you have sexual intercourse with their father’s wife and violate women during their menstrual impurity.^{(AH) 11} One man within you commits a detestable act with his neighbor’s wife;^(AI) another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his father’s daughter.^{(AJ) 12} People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood.^(AK) You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors.^(AL) You have forgotten Me.”^(AM) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹³ “Now look, I clap My hands together against the dishonest profit you have made^(AN) and against the blood shed among you. ¹⁴ Will your courage endure^(AO) or your hands be strong in the days when I deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will act.^{(AP) 15} I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the countries;^(AQ) I will purge your uncleanness.^{(AR) 16} You^[r] will be profaned in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”^(AS)

Jerusalem as God’s Furnace

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me.^(AT) All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace;^(AU) they are the dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have become dross, I am about to gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to blow fire^(AV) on them and melt them, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, put you inside, and melt you. ²¹ Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My fury, and you will be melted within the city. ²² As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you.”^(AW)

Indictment of a Sinful Land

²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her: You are a land that has not been cleansed,^(AX) that has not received rain in the day of indignation. ²⁵ The conspiracy of her prophets^(AY) within her is^[s] like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her. ²⁶ Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things.^(AZ) They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean.^(BA) They disregard^[t] My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷ “Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly. ²⁸ Her prophets plaster with whitewash for them by seeing false visions and lying divinations,^(BB) and they say, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery.^(BC) They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident. ³⁰ I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall^(BD) and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it,^(BE) but I found no one. ³¹ So I have poured out My indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their actions down on their own heads.”^(BF) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

The Two Immoral Sisters

23 The word of the Lord came to me again: ² “Son of man, there were two women,^(BG) daughters of the same mother, ³ who acted like prostitutes in Egypt,^(BH) behaving promiscuously in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin nipples caressed. ⁴ The older one was named Oholah,^[u] and her sister was Oholibah.^[v] They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah represents Samaria and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.

⁵ “Oholah acted like a prostitute even though she was Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians:^(BI) warriors ⁶ dressed in blue, governors and prefects, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on steeds. ⁷ She offered her sexual favors to them; all of them were the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all those she lusted after and with all their idols. ⁸ She didn’t give up her promiscuity that began in Egypt,^(BJ) when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin nipples, and poured out their lust on her. ⁹ Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers,^(BK) the Assyrians she lusted for. ¹⁰ They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. Since they executed judgment against her, she became notorious among women.

¹¹ “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was even more depraved in her lust than Oholah, and made her promiscuous acts worse than those of her sister.^{(BL) 12} She lusted after the Assyrians:^(BM) governors and prefects, warriors splendidly dressed, horsemen riding on steeds, all of them desirable young men. ¹³ And I saw that she had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path. ¹⁴ But she increased her promiscuity when she saw male figures carved on the wall,^(BN) images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,^{(BO) 15} wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers, a depiction of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. ¹⁶ At the sight of them^[w] she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.^{(BP) 17} Then the Babylonians came to her,^(BQ) to the bed of love, and defiled her with their lust. But after she was defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When she flaunted her promiscuity and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust just as I turned away from her sister.^{(BR) 19} Yet she multiplied her acts of promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt ²⁰ and lusted after their lovers, whose sexual members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. ²¹ So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your nipples to enjoy your youthful breasts.^(BS)

²² “Therefore Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says: I am going to incite your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust. I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans; Pekod, Shoa, and Koa;^(BT) and all the Assyrians with them—desirable young men, all of them governors and prefects, officers and administrators, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ They will come against you with an alliance of nations and with weapons, chariots, and^[x] wagons. They will set themselves against you on every side with shields, bucklers, and helmets. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will judge you by their own standards. ²⁵ When I vent My jealous rage on you,^(BU) they will deal with you in wrath. They will cut off your nose and ears, and your descendants will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your descendants will be consumed by fire. ²⁶ They will strip off your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry.^{(BV) 27} So I will put an end to your indecency and sexual immorality, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not look longingly at them or remember Egypt anymore.

²⁸ “For this is what the Lord God says: I am going to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. ²⁹ They will treat you with hatred, take all you have worked for, and leave you stark naked,^(BW) so that the shame of your debauchery will be exposed, both your indecency and promiscuity. ³⁰ These things will be done to you because you acted like a prostitute with the nations,^(BX) defiling yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have followed the path of your sister, so I will put her cup in your hand.”^(BY)

³² This is what the Lord God says:

³⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have forgotten Me^(CB) and cast Me behind your back,^(CC) you must bear the consequences of your indecency and promiscuity.”

³⁶ Then the Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah?^(CD) Then declare their detestable practices to them.^{(CE) 37} For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; they have committed adultery with their idols. They have even made the children they bore to Me pass through the fire as food for the idols.^{(CF) 38} They also did this to Me: they defiled My sanctuary^(CG) on that same day and profaned My Sabbaths.^{(CH) 39} On the same day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it.^(CI) Yes, that is what they did inside My house.

⁴⁰ “In addition, they sent for men who came from far away when a messenger was dispatched to them. And look how they came! You bathed, painted your eyes,^(CJ) and adorned yourself with jewelry for them.^{(CK) 41} You sat on a luxurious couch with a table spread before it,^(CL) on which you had set My incense and oil. ⁴² The sound of a carefree crowd was there. Drunkards^[z] from the desert were brought in, along with common men. They put bracelets on the women’s hands and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³ Then I said concerning this woman worn out by adultery: Will they now have illicit sex with her, even her? ⁴⁴ Yet they had sex with her as one does with a prostitute. This is how they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those obscene women. ⁴⁵ But righteous men will judge them the way adulteresses^(CM) and those who shed blood are judged, for they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶ “This is what the Lord God says: Summon^[aa] an assembly against them and consign them to terror and plunder.^{(CN) 47} The assembly will stone them and cut them down with their swords.^(CO) They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses with fire. ⁴⁸ So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your indecent behavior. ⁴⁹ They will repay you for your indecency,^(CP) and you will bear the consequences for your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

Parable of the Boiling Pot

24 The word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month: ² “Son of man, write down today’s date, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.^{(CQ) 3} Now speak a parable^(CR) to the rebellious house. Tell them: This is what the Lord God says:

⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

The Death of Ezekiel’s Wife: A Sign

¹⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶ “Son of man, I am about to take the delight of your eyes^(DB) away from you with a fatal blow. But you must not lament or weep or let your tears flow.^{(DC) 17} Groan quietly; do not observe mourning rites for the dead.^(DD) Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of mourners.”^[ah](DE)

¹⁸ I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. The next morning I did just as I was commanded. ¹⁹ Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”

²⁰ So I answered them: “The word of the Lord came to me: ²¹ ‘Say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your heart. Also, the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.^{(DF) 22} Then you will do just as I have done: You will not cover your mustache or eat the bread of mourners.^{[ai] 23} Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not lament or weep^(DG) but will waste away^(DH) because of your sins and will groan to one another. ²⁴ Now Ezekiel will be a sign for you.^(DI) You will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

²⁵ “‘Son of man, know that on the day I take their stronghold from them, their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes and the longing of their hearts, as well as their sons and daughters, ²⁶ on that day a fugitive will come to you and report the news.^{(DJ) 27} On that day your mouth will be opened to talk with him; you will speak and no longer be mute.^(DK) So you will be a sign for them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”