Ezekiel 1-4

New Life Version

Ezekiel Sees God’s Throne

1 On the fifth day of the fourth month in the thirtieth year, while I was by the Chebar River with the Jews who had been taken away from their land, the heavens were opened and I saw God in a special way. ² (On the fifth day of the month in the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been living in a strange land, ³ the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the religious leader, son of Buzi, in the land of the Babylonians by the Chebar River. There the hand of the Lord came upon him.)

⁴ I looked and saw a wind storm coming from the north. There was a big cloud with lightning coming from it and with a bright light around it. Inside the fire was something like shining brass, ⁵ and in the fire was what looked like four living beings. They looked like men, ⁶ but each of them had four faces and four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and their feet were like those of a calf. They shined like bright brass. ⁸ Under their wings on their four sides were hands like a man’s. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, ⁹ their wings touched one another. Their faces did not turn when they moved. Each one moved straight ahead. ¹⁰ As for what their faces looked like, each of the four had the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of a bull on the left side, and the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Each had two wings touching the wings of another, and two covering their bodies. ¹² And each one went straight ahead. Every place where the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. ¹³ Between the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like fire lamps moving from side to side among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was coming out of the fire. ¹⁴ And the living beings ran this way and that, like lightning.

¹⁵ As I looked at the living beings, I saw one wheel on the earth beside each of the living beings with its four faces. ¹⁶ The way the wheels were made, they looked like shining chrysolite stone. All four of them looked the same. They were made to look as if one wheel were within another. ¹⁷ When they moved, they went in one of their four ways, without turning as they went. ¹⁸ The wheels were so high that they caused fear. And all four of them were full of eyes all around. ¹⁹ When the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And when the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. ²⁰ Whatever way the spirit would go, they would go that way. And the wheels rose close beside them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. ²¹ When the living beings moved, they moved. When the beings stood still, they stood still. And when the beings rose up from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them. For the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

²² Over the heads of the living beings there was something that looked like the sky. It shined like crystal and spread over their heads. ²³ Under this covering their wings were spread out straight, one toward the other. Each one also had two wings covering their bodies on one side and on the other. ²⁴ When they went, I heard the sound of their wings. They sounded like many waters, like the voice of the All-powerful. They sounded like the noise of an army camp. Whenever they stood still, they let down their wings. ²⁵ A voice came from above the large covering over their heads. Whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶ Above the large covering that was over their heads there was something that looked like a throne, and looked like it was made of sapphire. Sitting on the throne was what looked like a man. ²⁷ Then I saw that there was something like shining brass from the center of his body and up to his head. It looked like fire all around within it. And from the center of his body and down to his feet I saw something like fire. There was a bright light shining all around Him.

²⁸ This light shining around Him looked like the rainbow in the clouds on a day of rain.

This was what the shining-greatness of the Lord looked like. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

God Calls Ezekiel to Speak for Him

2 He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And when He spoke to me, the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet. I heard Him speaking to me. ³ He said, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to sinful people who have turned against Me. They and their fathers have sinned against Me to this very day. ⁴ I am sending you to these strong-willed children who show no respect. And you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ ⁵ If they listen or not (for they are sinful people) they will know that a man of God has been among them. ⁶ And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or of what they say, even if thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or lose strength of heart by their looks, for they will not obey Me. ⁷ You must speak My words to them if they listen or not, for they do not obey Me.

⁸ “As for you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not be sinful like these sinful people. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” ⁹ Then I looked and saw that a hand was held out to me, and there was a book in it. ¹⁰ He held it out in front of me, and it had writing on the front and back. Words of trouble and sorrow were written on it.

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is in front of you. Eat this book, then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this book. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, eat this book that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴ Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel, and speak My words to them. ⁵ For you are not being sent to people of strange speech and a hard language, but to the people of Israel. ⁶ You are not being sent to many people of strange speech and a hard language whom you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the people of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to Me. All the people of Israel are strong-willed and show no respect. ⁸ See, I have made you as strong-willed and as hard as they are. ⁹ I have made your forehead harder than the hardest stone. Do not be afraid of them. Do not be afraid of how they look, even if they do not obey Me.” ¹⁰ He said to me, “Son of man, take all My words that I say to you into your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ Then go to the Jews who have been taken away from their land. Go to the sons of your people. And if they listen or not, tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’”

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud sounding voice behind me say, “Great is the shining-greatness of the Lord from His place.” ¹³ I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them. It was a loud rushing sound. ¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went with a bitter and angry spirit. The hand of the Lord was strong upon me. ¹⁵ Then I came to the Jews who had been taken from their land and who lived by the Chebar River at Tel-abib. I sat among them seven days where they were living, and I was filled with fear.

Ezekiel to Watch Over Israel

¹⁶ At the end of seven days the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have chosen you to be a watchman over the people of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, tell them of the danger. ¹⁸ If I say to the sinful man, ‘You will die for sure,’ and you do not tell him of the danger, and try to turn him from his sinful way so that he may live, that sinful man will die in his sin. But you will be guilty for his blood. ¹⁹ But if you tell a sinful man of the danger he is in, and he does not turn from his sins or from his sinful way, then he will die in his sin. But you will have saved yourself. ²⁰ Again, if a right and good man turns away from his right and good way and sins, and I put a cause of falling in his way, he will die. Because you have not told him of the danger, he will die in his sin, and the right and good things he has done will not be remembered. But you will be guilty for his blood. ²¹ Yet if you have told the right and good man of the danger of his sinning, and he does not sin, he will live for sure because he listened to you. And you will have saved yourself.”

Ezekiel Is Not Able to Speak

²² The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and I will speak to you there.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain, and saw the shining-greatness of the Lord standing there. It was like the shining-greatness which I saw by the Chebar River, and I fell on my face. ²⁴ Then the Spirit came into me and made me stand on my feet. And He spoke and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ²⁵ As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot speak. You will not be able to speak sharp words to them, for they will not obey Me. ²⁷ But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ He who hears, let him hear. And he who is not willing to hear, let him not be willing. For they are a sinful people.

Ezekiel Shows How Jerusalem Will Be Taken

4 “Now, son of man, get a hard clay block. Set it down in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ² Then build a battle-wall around it to shut it in, and build a hill of dirt against the wall. Cut down trees and lay them on wheels all around the city, to use for breaking down the walls. ³ Then get an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and turn your face toward it. It will be shut in, and you will fight a battle against it. This will be something special for the people of Israel to see.

⁴ “Then lie on your left side, and I will lay the sin of the people of Israel upon you. You will be under the weight of their sin for the number of days that you lie on your side. ⁵ I have set a number of days for you which is the same as the number of years of their sin, 390 days. This is how long you must be under the weight of the sin of the people of Israel. ⁶ When you have completed these, you must lie down a second time, but on your right side. And you must be under the weight of the sin of the people of Judah. I have set a time of forty days for you to do this, one day for each year. ⁷ Then you must turn your face toward the battle against Jerusalem with no covering on your arm, and tell what will happen against the city. ⁸ I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, until you have completed the days of your battle.

⁹ “Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt and put them in one pot, and make them into bread for yourself. Eat it during the 390 days that you lie on your side. ¹⁰ The food you eat each day will weigh as much as twenty pieces of silver, and will have to last until the next day. ¹¹ And the water you drink each day will be enough to fill a bottle. You will drink it from time to time. ¹² Eat your food as you would barley cakes, making it ready in front of their eyes over a fire burning human waste.” ¹³ The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat unclean food among the nations where I will drive them.” ¹⁴ But I said, “O Lord God! See, I have never been unclean. Since I was young until now, I have never eaten what died of itself or what was torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever come into my mouth.” ¹⁵ So He said to me, “Then I will let you make your bread over cow’s waste instead of human waste.” ¹⁶ And He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to take away the bread that is needed in Jerusalem. They will weigh the bread they eat and they will drink water from small cups, and be afraid ¹⁷ because there will not be enough bread and water. They will look at one another in fear, and waste away in their sin.