The Sins of Jerusalem

22 Now this message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins, ³ and give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols,^[a] filthy and foul— ⁴ you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world. ⁵ O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.

⁶ “Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. ⁷ Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you. ⁸ You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest. ⁹ People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things. ¹⁰ Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating. ¹¹ Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters. ¹² There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord.

¹³ “But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed. ¹⁴ How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said. ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness. ¹⁶ And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you,^[b] you will know that I am the Lord.”

The Lord’s Refining Furnace

¹⁷ Then this message came to me from the Lord: ¹⁸ “Son of man, the people of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are the dross that is left over—a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead. ¹⁹ So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury. ²¹ I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you, ²² and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fury on you.’”

The Sins of Israel’s Leaders

²³ Again a message came to me from the Lord: ²⁴ “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. ²⁵ Your princes^[c] plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. ²⁶ Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. ²⁷ Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! ²⁸ And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. ²⁹ Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

³⁰ “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. ³¹ So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

The Adultery of Two Sisters

23 This message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, once there were two sisters who were daughters of the same mother. ³ They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts. ⁴ The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

⁵ “Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her love to the Assyrian officers. ⁶ They were all attractive young men, captains and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their horses. ⁷ And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols^[d] and defiling herself. ⁸ For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth, when the Egyptians slept with her, fondled her breasts, and used her as a prostitute.

⁹ “And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so much. ¹⁰ They stripped her, took away her children as their slaves, and then killed her. After she received her punishment, her reputation was known to every woman in the land.

¹¹ “Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution. ¹² She fawned over all the Assyrian officers—those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses—all of them attractive young men. ¹³ I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.

¹⁴ “Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with pictures that were painted on a wall—pictures of Babylonian^[e] military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms. ¹⁵ Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia.^{[f] 16} When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to them, so she sent messengers to Babylonia to invite them to come to her. ¹⁷ So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust.

¹⁸ “In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts. ¹⁹ Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt. ²⁰ She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse. ²¹ And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.

The Lord’s Judgment of Oholibah

²² “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will send your lovers against you from every direction—those very nations from which you turned away in disgust. ²³ For the Babylonians will come with all the Chaldeans from Pekod and Shoa and Koa. And all the Assyrians will come with them—handsome young captains, commanders, chariot officers, and other high-ranking officers, all riding their horses. ²⁴ They will all come against you from the north^[g] with chariots, wagons, and a great army prepared for attack. They will take up positions on every side, surrounding you with men armed with shields and helmets. And I will hand you over to them for punishment so they can do with you as they please. ²⁵ I will turn my jealous anger against you, and they will deal harshly with you. They will cut off your nose and ears, and any survivors will then be slaughtered by the sword. Your children will be taken away as captives, and everything that is left will be burned. ²⁶ They will strip you of your beautiful clothes and jewels. ²⁷ In this way, I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you brought from Egypt. You will never again cast longing eyes on those things or fondly remember your time in Egypt.

²⁸ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely hand you over to your enemies, to those you loathe, those you rejected. ²⁹ They will treat you with hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you stark naked. The shame of your prostitution will be exposed to all the world. ³⁰ You brought all this on yourself by prostituting yourself to other nations, defiling yourself with all their idols. ³¹ Because you have followed in your sister’s footsteps, I will force you to drink the same cup of terror she drank.

³² “Yes, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

³⁵ “And because you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You must bear the consequences of all your lewdness and prostitution.”

The Lord’s Judgment on Both Sisters

³⁶ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, you must accuse Oholah and Oholibah of all their detestable sins. ³⁷ They have committed both adultery and murder—adultery by worshiping idols and murder by burning as sacrifices the children they bore to me. ³⁸ Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day! ³⁹ On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house.

⁴⁰ “You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them. ⁴¹ You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you. ⁴² From your room came the sound of many men carousing. They were lustful men and drunkards^[h] from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your heads. ⁴³ Then I said, ‘If they really want to have sex with old worn-out prostitutes like these, let them!’ ⁴⁴ And that is what they did. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, these shameless prostitutes. ⁴⁵ But righteous people will judge these sister cities for what they really are—adulterers and murderers.

⁴⁶ “Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring an army against them and hand them over to be terrorized and plundered. ⁴⁷ For their enemies will stone them and kill them with swords. They will butcher their sons and daughters and burn their homes. ⁴⁸ In this way, I will put an end to lewdness and idolatry in the land, and my judgment will be a warning to all women not to follow your wicked example. ⁴⁹ You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution—your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

The Sign of the Cooking Pot

24 On January 15,^[i] during the ninth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, write down today’s date, because on this very day the king of Babylon is beginning his attack against Jerusalem. ³ Then give these rebels an illustration with this message from the Sovereign Lord:

¹⁴ “I, the Lord, have spoken! The time has come, and I won’t hold back. I will not change my mind, and I will have no pity on you. You will be judged on the basis of all your wicked actions, says the Sovereign Lord.”

The Death of Ezekiel’s Wife

¹⁵ Then this message came to me from the Lord: ¹⁶ “Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. ¹⁷ Groan silently, but let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any food brought to you by consoling friends.”

¹⁸ So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do. ¹⁹ Then the people asked, “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?”

²⁰ So I said to them, “A message came to me from the Lord, ²¹ and I was told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left behind in Judah will be slaughtered by the sword. ²² Then you will do as Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating the food brought by friends. ²³ Your heads will remain covered, and your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins. You will groan among yourselves for all the evil you have done. ²⁴ Ezekiel is an example for you; you will do just as he has done. And when that time comes, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

²⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold—their joy and glory, their heart’s desire, their dearest treasure—I will also take away their sons and daughters. ²⁶ And on that day a survivor from Jerusalem will come to you in Babylon and tell you what has happened. ²⁷ And when he arrives, your voice will suddenly return so you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol for these people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.^{[a] 2} When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

³ Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. ⁶ In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. ⁹ They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. ¹¹ Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.

¹² The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. ¹⁴ And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” ¹⁵ Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. ¹⁶ I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.

¹⁷ And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. ¹⁸ One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. ¹⁹ Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.

²⁰ But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! ²¹ And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.