The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

And thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee: be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house; open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee.'

And when I looked, behold, a hand was put forth unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

and He spread it before me, and it was written within and without; and there was written therein lamentations, and moaning, and woe.

And He said unto me: 'Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.'

So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll.

And He said unto me: 'Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee.' Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

And He said unto me: 'Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.

For thou art not sent to a people of an unintelligible speech and of a slow tongue, but to the house of Israel;

not to many peoples of an unintelligible speech and of a slow tongue, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee.

But the house of Israel will not consent to hearken unto thee; for they consent not to hearken unto Me; for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart.

Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.

As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.'

Moreover He said unto me: 'Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears.

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them: Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.'

Then a spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing: 'Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place';

also the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.

So a spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river Chebar, and I sat where they sat; and I remained there appalled among them seven days.

And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

'Son of man, I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; and when thou shalt hear a word at My mouth, thou shalt give them warning from Me.

When I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.

Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.'

And the hand of the LORD came there upon me; and He said unto me: 'Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there speak with thee.'

Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

Then spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and He spoke with me, and said unto me: 'Go, shut thyself within thy house.

But thou, son of man, behold, bands shall be put upon thee, and thou shalt be bound with them, and thou shalt not go out among them;

and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.

But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD; he that heareth, let him hear, and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house.

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and trace upon it a city, even Jerusalem;

and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

And take thou unto thee an iron griddle, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Moreover lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.

For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee.

And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.

And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege.

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, even three hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat thereof.

And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time shalt thou eat it.

Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from time to time shalt thou drink.

And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.'

And the LORD said: 'Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.'

Then said I: 'Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abhorred flesh into my mouth.'

Then He said unto me: 'See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.'

Moreover He said unto me: 'Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxiety; and they shall drink water by measure, and in appalment;

that they may want bread and water, and be appalled one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard; then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite it with the sword round about her; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

Thou shalt also take thereof a few by number, and bind them in thy skirts.

And of them again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem! I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her.

And she hath rebelled against Mine ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have rejected Mine ordinances, and as for My statutes, they have not walked in them.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because ye have outdone the nations that are round about you, in that ye have not walked in My statutes, neither have kept Mine ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you;

therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and I will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.

Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds.

Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely, because thou hast defiled My sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall Mine eye spare, and I also will have no pity.

A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part I will scatter unto all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.

Thus shall Mine anger spend itself, and I will satisfy My fury upon them, and I will be eased; and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them.

Moreover I will make thee an amazement and a reproach, among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury, and in furious rebukes; I the LORD have spoken it;

when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you; and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread;

and I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.'

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

'Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

and say: Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the mountains and concerning the hills, concerning the ravines and concerning the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

And your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.

And I will lay the carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be blotted out.

And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Yet will I leave a remnant, in that ye shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

And they that escape of you shall remember Me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, how that I have been anguished with their straying heart, which hath departed from Me, and with their eyes, which are gone astray after their idols; and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

And they shall know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say: Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine; thus will I spend My fury upon them.

And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every leafy tree, and under every thick terebinth, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

And I will stretch out My hand upon them, and make the land desolate and waste, more than the wilderness of Diblah, throughout all their habitations; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

'And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the land of Israel: An end! the end is come upon the four corners of the land.

Now is the end upon thee, and I will send Mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations.

And Mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will bring thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: An evil, a singular evil, behold, it cometh.

An end is come, the end is come, it awaketh against thee; behold, it cometh.

The turn is come unto thee, O inhabitant of the land; the time is come, the day of tumult is near, and not of joyful shouting upon the mountains.

Now will I shortly pour out My fury upon thee, and spend Mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations.

And Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; I will bring upon thee according to thy ways, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I the LORD do smite.

Behold the day; behold, it cometh; the turn is come forth; the rod hath blossomed, arrogancy hath budded.

Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; nought cometh from them, nor from their tumult, nor from their turmoil, neither is there eminency among them.

The time is come, the day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive; for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any stand possessed of the iniquity of his life.

They have blown the horn, and have made all ready, but none goeth to the battle; for My wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

But they that shall at all escape of them, shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity.

All hands shall be slack, and all knees shall drip with water.

They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it hath been the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

And as for the beauty of their ornament, which was set for a pride, they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things thereof; therefore have I made it unto them as an unclean thing.

And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.

I will also turn My face from them, and they shall profane My secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.