27 August - Ezekiel 1-4

Jude Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:36 pm

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

EZEKIEL 1

1And it came to be in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, as I was among the exiles by the River Keḇar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of Elohim.

2On the fifth of the month, in the fifth year of Sovereign Yehoyaḵin’s exile,

3the word of יהוה came expressly to Yeḥezqĕl the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Keḇar. And the hand of יהוה came upon him there.

4And I looked and saw a whirlwind coming out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing itself. And brightness was all around it, and out of its midst like glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire,

5and out of the midst of it came what looked like four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

6And each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.

7And their feet were straight feet, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calves’ foot. And they sparkled like the appearance of polished bronze,

8and under their wings on their four sides were the hands of a man. And each of the four had faces and wings –

9their wings touched one another. They did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.

10And the likeness of their faces: the face of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, and each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle.

11Such were their faces. Their wings were spread upward, two of each touched one another, and two covered their bodies.

12And each one went straight forward, going wherever the spirit was to go, and they did not turn when they went.

13And the likeness of the living creatures: their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of torches, moving back and forth among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.

14And the living creatures ran back and forth, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

15And I looked at the living creatures, and saw a wheel on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.

16The appearance of the wheels and their works was like the appearance of beryl, and all four had the same form. The appearance of their works was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

17When they went, they went in any one of four directions, they did not turn aside when they went.

18And their rims were high and awesome, and their rims were covered with eyes, all around the four of them.

19And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

20Wherever the spirit was to go, they went, because there the spirit went. And the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood. And when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22And a likeness was over the heads of the living creatures, an expanse like the appearance of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads.

23And under the expanse their wings were straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body.

24And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army. And when they stood still, they let down their wings.

25And a voice came from above the expanse that was over their heads. When they stood, they dropped their wings.

26And above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone. And on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man high above it.

27And from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw what looked like glowing metal with the appearance of fire all around within it. And from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw what looked like fire, and brightness all around.

28As the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the esteem of יהוה. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

EZEKIEL 2

1And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, so that I speak to you.”

2And the Spirit entered into me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet. And I heard Him who was speaking to me.

3And He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Yisra’ĕl, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against Me. They and their fathers have transgressed against Me, until this day.

4“And the children are stiff of face and hard of heart to whom I am sending you, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה.’

5“And they – whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are a rebellious house – shall know that a prophet has been in their midst.

6“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or discouraged by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

7“And you shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious.

8“And you, son of man, hear what I am speaking to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house, open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

9And I looked and saw a hand stretched out to me. And see, a scroll of a book was in it,

10and He spread it before me, and it was written on the inside and on the outside. And written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.

EZEKIEL 3

1And He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find, eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Yisra’ĕl.”

2And I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

3And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I am giving you.” And I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my moutha.

4And He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall speak to them with My words.

5“For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and of difficult language, but to the house of Yisra’ĕl,

6not to many people of foreign speech and of difficult language, whose words you do not understand. If I had rather sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

7“But the house of Yisra’ĕl is going to refuse to listen to you, for they refuse to listen to Me. For all the house of Yisra’ĕl are hard of head, and hard of heart.

8“See, I shall make your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

9“Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I shall make your forehead. Do not be afraid of them, nor be discouraged at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

10And He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.

11“And go! Come to the exiles, to the children of your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.”

12And the Spirit lifted me up, and behind me I heard the sound of a great rumbling voice, “Blessed be the esteem of יהוה from His place,”

13and the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great rushing.

14And the Spirit lifted me and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, while the hand of יהוה was strong upon me.

15And I came to the exiles at Tĕl Aḇiḇ, who were dwelling by the River Keḇar. And I sat where they were sitting, and sat there, stunned among them, seven days.

16And it came to be at the end of seven days that the word of יהוה came to me, saying,

17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Yisra’ĕl. And you shall hear a word from My mouth, and shall warn them from Me.

18“When I say to the wronga, ‘You shall certainly die,’ and you have not warned him, nor spoken to warn the wrong from his wrong way, to save his life, that same wrong man shall die in his crookedness, and his blood I require at your hand.

19“But if you have warned the wrong and he does not turn from his wrong, nor from his wrong way, he shall die in his crookedness, and you have delivered your being.

20“And when a righteous one turns from his righteousness and shall do unrighteousness, when I have put a stumbling-block before him, he shall die. Because you did not warn him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done is not remembered, and his blood I require at your hand.

21“But if you have warned the righteous one that the righteous should not sin, and he did not sin, he shall certainly live because he has been warned, and you have delivered your being.”

22And the hand of יהוה came upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, so that I might speak to you there.”

23So I got up and went out into the plain, and see, the esteem of יהוה stood there, like the esteem which I saw by the River Keḇar, and I fell on my face.

24And the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

25“And you, O son of man, see, they shall put cords on you and bind you with them, so that you do not go out in their midst.

26“And I make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb and not be a reprover to them, for they are a rebellious house.

27“But when I speak with you, I open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה.’ He who hears, let him hear. And he who refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

EZEKIEL 4

1“And you, son of man, take a clay tablet, and you shall lay it before you, and shall inscribe on it a city, Yerushalayim,

2and shall lay siege against it, and build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it, and set camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around.

3“Then take an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. And you shall set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. It is a sign to the house of Yisra’ĕl.

4“And lie on your left side, and you shall put the crookedness of the house of Yisra’ĕl on it. As many days as you lie on it, you shall bear their crookedness.

5“For I Myself have laid on you the years of their crookedness, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days. And you shall bear the crookedness of the house of Yisra’ĕl.

6“And when you have completed them, you shall lie again on your right side and shall bear the crookedness of the house of Yehuḏah forty days, a day for a year. I have laid on you a day for a year.

7“Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Yerushalayim, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against it.

8“And see, I shall put cords on you so that you do not turn from one side to another untill you have completed the days of your siege.

9“And take wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt. And you shall put them into one vessel, and make bread of them. You shall eat it, as many days as you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days.

10“And your food which you eat is by weight, twenty sheqels a day, to be eaten from time to time.

11“And drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin, to be drunk from time to time.

12“And eat it as a barley cake. And bake it, before their eyes, on human dung.”

13And יהוה said, “Even so the children of Yisra’ĕl shall eat their defiled bread among the gentiles, to whom I drive them.”

14Then I said, “Ah, Master יהוה! See, I have never defiled myself from my youth till now. I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has unclean meat ever come into my mouth.”

15And He said to me, “See, I am giving you the dung of cattle instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”

16And He said to me, “Son of man, see, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Yerushalayim, and they shall eat bread by weight and with fear, and drink water by measure and with dread,

17so that they lack bread and water, and shall be appalled with one another, and be consumed in their crookedness.