The Daily Audio Bible

Disaster Is Coming to Jerusalem

7 Then the word of the Lord came to me. ² He said, “Now, son of man, here is a message from the Lord God. This message is for the land of Israel:

⁵ This is what the Lord God said: “There will be one disaster after another! ⁶ The end is coming, and it will come quickly! ⁷ You people living in Israel, disaster is coming. It is time for punishment. Those are not shouts of joy in the mountains. Those are cries of panic. ⁸ Very soon now, I will show you how angry I am. I will show all of my anger against you. I will punish you for the evil things you did. I will make you pay for all the terrible things you did. ⁹ I will not show you any mercy or feel sorry for you. I am punishing you for the evil things you did. You have done such terrible things. Now, you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “That time of punishment has come like a plant sprouting, budding, and flowering. God has given the signal, the enemy is prepared, and their proud king is ready. ¹¹ This violent man is ready to punish the evil people. There are many people in Israel—but he is not one of them. He is not a person in that crowd. He is not some important leader from them.

¹² “The time of punishment has come. The day is here. Those who buy things will not be happy, and those who sell things will not feel bad about selling them because that terrible punishment will happen to everyone. ¹³ The people who sold their property^[a] will never go back to it. Even if some people escape alive, they will never go back to their property, because this vision is for the whole crowd. So even if some people escape alive, it will not make everyone feel better.

¹⁴ “They will blow the trumpet to warn the people. The people will get ready for battle, but they will not go out to fight because I will show the whole crowd how angry I am. ¹⁵ The enemy with his sword is outside the city. Disease and hunger is inside the city. If some people go out into the fields, enemy soldiers will kill them. If they stay in the city, hunger and disease will destroy them.

¹⁶ “But some people will escape. The survivors will run to the mountains, but they will not be happy. They will be sad for all their sins. They will cry and make sad noises like doves. ¹⁷ They will be too tired and sad to raise their arms. Their legs will be like water. ¹⁸ They will wear sackcloth and be covered with fear. You will see the shame on every face. They will shave their heads to show their sadness. ¹⁹ They will throw their silver idols into the streets. They will treat their gold statues like dirty rags, because those things will not be able to save them when the Lord shows his anger. Those things were nothing but a trap that caused the people to fall. They will not give food to the people or put food in their bellies.

²⁰ “They used their beautiful jewelry and made an idol. They were proud of that statue. They made their terrible statues. They made those filthy things, so I will throw them away like a dirty rag. ²¹ I will let strangers take them. Those strangers will make fun of them. They will kill some of the people and take others away as prisoners. ²² I will turn my head away from them—I will not look at them. The strangers will ruin my Temple—they will go into the secret parts of that holy building and make it unfit for worship.

²³ “Make chains for the prisoners, because many people will be punished for killing other people. There will be violence every place in the city. ²⁴ I will bring evil people from other nations, and they will get all the houses of the people of Israel. I will stop all you powerful people from being so proud. Those people from other nations will get all your places of worship.

²⁵ “You will shake with fear. You will look for peace, but there will be none. ²⁶ You will hear one sad story after another. You will hear nothing but bad news. You will look for a prophet and ask him for a vision. The priests will have nothing to teach you, and the elders will not have any good advice to give you. ²⁷ Your king will be crying for the people who died. The leaders will wear sackcloth. The common people will be very afraid, because I will pay them back for what they did. I will decide their punishment, and I will punish them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Sinful Things Done at the Temple

8 One day I, Ezekiel, was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting there in front of me. This was on the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of exile.^[b] Suddenly, the power of the Lord God came on me. ² I saw something that looked like fire, like a man’s body. From the waist down, he was like fire. From the waist up, he was bright and shining like hot metal^[c] in a fire. ³ Then I saw something that looked like an arm. The arm reached out and grabbed me by the hair on my head. Then the Spirit^[d] lifted me into the air, and in a vision from God he took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner gate—the gate that is on the north side. The statue that makes God jealous is by that gate. ⁴ But the Glory of the God of Israel was there. The Glory looked just like the vision I saw in the valley by the Kebar Canal.

⁵ God spoke to me. He said, “Son of man,^[e] look toward the north.” So I looked, and there, north of the Altar Gate by the entrance, was that statue that made God jealous.

⁶ Then God said to me, “Son of man, do you see what terrible things the people of Israel are doing? They built that thing here, right next to my Temple! And if you come with me, you will see even more terrible things!”

⁷ So I went to the entrance to the courtyard, and I saw a hole in the wall. ⁸ God said to me, “Son of man, make a hole in the wall.” So I made a hole in the wall, and there I saw a door.

⁹ Then God said to me, “Go in and look at the terrible, evil things that the people are doing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and looked. I saw statues of all kinds of reptiles^[f] and animals that you hate to think about. The statues were the filthy idols that the people of Israel worshiped. There were pictures of those animals carved all around on every wall!

¹¹ Then I noticed that Jaazaniah son of Shaphan and the 70 elders of Israel were there with the people worshiping in that place. There they were, right at the front of the people, and each leader had his own incense dish in his hand. The smoke from the burning incense was rising into the air. ¹² Then God said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of Israel do in the dark? Each man has a special room for his own false god. They say to themselves, ‘The Lord cannot see us. The Lord left this country.’” ¹³ Then he said to me, “If you come with me, you will see these men doing even more terrible things!”

¹⁴ Then God led me to the entrance to the Lord’s Temple. This gate was on the north side. I saw women sitting there and crying. They were sad about the false god Tammuz^[g]!

¹⁵ God said to me, “Son of man, do you see these terrible things? Come with me and you will see things that are even worse than this!” ¹⁶ Then he led me to the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple area. There I saw 25 men bowing down and worshiping. They were at the entrance to the Lord’s Temple between the porch and the altar—but they were facing the wrong way. Their backs were to the Holy Place. They were bowing down to worship the sun!

¹⁷ Then God said, “Son of man, do you see this? The people of Judah think my Temple is so unimportant that they will do these terrible things here in my Temple! This country is filled with violence, and they constantly do things to make me angry. Look, they are wearing rings in their noses to honor the moon as a false god!^{[h] 18} I will show them my anger! I will not show them any mercy or feel sorry for them! They will shout to me—but I refuse to listen to them!”

God’s Messengers Punish Jerusalem

9 Then God shouted to the leaders in charge of punishing the city. Each leader had his own destructive weapon in his hand.^{[i] 2} Then I saw six men walking on the road from the upper gate. This gate is on the north side. Each man had his own deadly weapon in his hand. One of the men wore linen clothes.^[j] He wore a scribe’s pen and ink set^[k] at his waist. Those men went to the bronze altar in the Temple and stood there. ³ Then the Glory of the God of Israel rose from above the Cherub angels where he had been. Then the Glory went to the door of the Temple and stopped when he was over the threshold. Then he called to the man wearing the linen clothes and the scribe’s pen and ink set.

⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem. Put a mark on the forehead of everyone who feels sad and upset about all the terrible things people are doing in this city.”

^5-6 Then I heard God say to the other men, “I want you to follow the first man. You must kill all those who do not have the mark on their foreheads. It doesn’t matter if they are elders, young men or young women, children or mothers—you must use your weapon and kill everyone who does not have the mark on their forehead. Don’t show any mercy. Don’t feel sorry for anyone. Start here at my Temple.” So they started with the elders in front of the Temple.

⁷ He said to them, “Make this Temple unclean—fill this courtyard with dead bodies! Now go!” So they went and killed the people in the city.

⁸ I stayed there while the men went to kill the people. I bowed with my face to the ground and said, “Oh, Lord God, in showing your anger against Jerusalem, are you killing all the survivors in Israel?”

⁹ He said, “The family of Israel and Judah has committed many terrible sins! People are being murdered everywhere in this country, and the city is filled with crime. That is because the people say to themselves, ‘The Lord has left this country. The Lord cannot see what we are doing.’ ¹⁰ So I will not show any mercy or feel sorry for them. They brought it on themselves. I am only giving them the punishment they deserve!”

¹¹ Then the man wearing linen clothes and a scribe’s pen and ink set spoke up. He said, “I have done what you commanded.”

5 Every Jewish high priest is chosen from among men. That priest is given the work of helping people with the things they must do for God. He must offer to God gifts and sacrifices for sins. ² The high priest has his own weaknesses. So he is able to be gentle with those who do wrong out of ignorance. ³ He offers sacrifices for their sins, but he must also offer sacrifices for his own sins.

⁴ To be a high priest is an honor. But no one chooses himself for this work. That person must be chosen by God just as Aaron was. ⁵ It is the same with Christ. He did not choose himself to have the honor of becoming a high priest. But God chose him. God said to him,

⁶ And in another part of the Scriptures God says,

⁷ While Jesus lived on earth he prayed to God, asking for help from the one who could save him from death. He prayed to God with loud cries and tears. And his prayers were answered because of his great respect for God. ⁸ Jesus was the Son of God, but he still suffered, and through his sufferings he learned to obey whatever God says. ⁹ This made him the perfect high priest, who provides the way for everyone who obeys him to be saved forever. ¹⁰ God made him high priest, just like Melchizedek.

Warning Against Falling Away

¹¹ We have many things to tell you about this. But it is hard to explain because you have stopped trying to understand. ¹² You have had enough time that by now you should be teachers. But you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s teaching. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food. ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and is not able to understand much about living right. ¹⁴ But solid food is for people who have grown up. From their experience they have learned to see the difference between good and evil.

²⁸ Liars hate the people they hurt, and false praise can hurt people.