Through the Bible – Day 321

₁Six years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the leaders of Judah were meeting with me in my house. On the fifth day of the sixth month, the LORD God suddenly took control of me, ₂and I saw something in the shape of a human. This figure was like fire from the waist down, and it was bright as polished metal from the waist up. ₃It reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed my hair. Then in my vision the LORD's Spirit lifted me into the sky and carried me to Jerusalem.

The Spirit took me to the north gate of the temple's inner courtyard, where there was an idol that disgusted the LORD and made him furious. ₄Then I saw the brightness of the glory of the God of Israel, just as I had seen it near the River Chebar.

₅God said to me, “Ezekiel, son of man, look north.” And when I did, I saw that disgusting idol by the altar near the gate.

₆God then said, “Do you see the terrible sins of the people of Israel? Their sins are making my holy temple unfit as a place to worship me. Yet you will see even worse things than this.”

₇Next, I was taken to the entrance of the courtyard, where I saw a hole in the wall.

₈God said, “Make this hole bigger.” And when I did, I realized it was a doorway. ₉“Go in,” God said, “and see what horrible and evil things the people are doing.”

₁₀Inside, I saw that the walls were covered with pictures of reptiles and disgusting, unclean animals, as well as with idols that the Israelites were worshipping. ₁₁Seventy Israelite leaders were standing there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each of these leaders was holding an incense burner, and the smell of incense filled the room.

₁₂God said, “Ezekiel, do you see what horrible things Israel's leaders are doing in secret? They have filled their rooms with idols. And they say I can't see them, because they think I have already deserted Israel. ₁₃But I will show you something even worse than this.”

₁₄He took me to the north gate of the temple, where I saw women mourning for the god Tammuz. ₁₅God asked me, “Can you believe what these women are doing? But now I want to show you something worse.”

₁₆I was then led into the temple's inner courtyard, where I saw about twenty-five men standing near the entrance, between the porch and the altar. Their backs were to the LORD's temple, and they were bowing down to the rising sun.

₁₇God said, “Ezekiel, it's bad enough that the people of Judah are doing these disgusting things. But they have also spread violence and injustice everywhere in Israel and have made me very angry. They have disgraced and insulted me in the worst possible way. ₁₈So in my fierce anger, I will punish them without mercy and refuse to help them when they cry out to me.”

₁After that, I heard the LORD shout, “Come to Jerusalem, you men chosen to destroy the city. And bring your weapons!”

₂I saw six men come through the north gate of the temple, each one holding a deadly weapon. A seventh man dressed in a linen robe was with them, and he was carrying things to write with. The men went into the temple and stood by the bronze altar.

₃The brightness of God's glory then left its place above the statues of the winged creatures inside the temple and moved to the entrance. The LORD said to the man in the linen robe, ₄“Walk through the city of Jerusalem and mark the forehead of anyone who is truly upset and sad about the disgusting things that are being done here.”

_5-6He turned to the other six men and said, “Follow him and put to death everyone who doesn't have a mark on their forehead. Show no mercy or pity! Kill men and women, parents and children. Begin here at my temple and be sure not to harm those who are marked.”

The men immediately killed the leaders who were standing there.

₇Then the LORD said, “Pollute the temple by piling the dead bodies in the courtyards. Now get busy!” They left and started killing the people of Jerusalem.

₈I was then alone, so I bowed down and cried out to the LORD, “Why are you doing this? Are you so angry at the people of Jerusalem that everyone must die?”

₉The LORD answered, “The people of Israel and Judah have done horrible things. Their country is filled with murderers, and Jerusalem itself is filled with violence. They think that I have deserted them, and that I can't see what they are doing. ₁₀And so I will not have pity on them or forgive them. They will be punished for what they have done.”

₁₁Just then, the man in the linen robe returned and said, “I have done what you commanded.”

₁I saw the dome that was above the four winged creatures, and on it was the sapphire throne. ₂The LORD said to the man in the linen robe, “Walk among the four wheels beside the creatures and pick up as many hot coals as you can carry. Then scatter them over the city of Jerusalem.” I watched him as he followed the LORD's instructions.

₃The winged creatures were standing south of the temple when the man walked among them. A cloud filled the inner courtyard, ₄and the brightness of the LORD's glory moved from above the creatures and stopped at the entrance of the temple. The entire temple was filled with his glory, and the courtyard was dazzling bright. ₅The sound of the creatures' wings was as loud as the voice of God All-Powerful and could even be heard in the outer courtyard.

₆The man in the robe was now standing beside a wheel. ₇One of the four creatures reached its hand into the fire among them and gave him some of the hot coals. The man took the coals and left.

₈I noticed again that each of the four winged creatures had what looked like human hands under their wings, ₉and I saw the four wheels near the creatures. These wheels were shining like chrysolite. ₁₀Each wheel was exactly the same and had a second wheel that cut through the middle of it, ₁₁so that they could move in any direction without turning. The wheels moved together whenever the creatures moved. ₁₂I also noticed that the wheels and the creatures' bodies, including their backs, their hands, and their wings, were covered with eyes. ₁₃And I heard a voice calling these “the wheels that spin”.

₁₄Each of the winged creatures had four faces: the face of a bull, the face of a human, the face of a lion, and the face of an eagle. _15-17These were the same creatures I had seen near the River Chebar. They controlled when and where the wheels moved—the wheels went wherever the creatures went and stopped whenever they stopped. Even when the creatures flew in the air, the wheels stayed beside them.

₁₈Then I watched the brightness of the LORD's glory move from the entrance of the temple and stop above the winged creatures. ₁₉They spread their wings and flew into the air with the wheels at their side. They stopped at the east gate of the temple, and the LORD's glory was above them.

₂₀I knew for certain that these were the same creatures I had seen beneath the LORD's glory near the River Chebar. _21-22They had four wings with hands beneath them, and they had the same four faces as those near the River. Each creature moved straight ahead without turning.

₁The LORD's Spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the temple, where I saw twenty-five men, including the two leaders, Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah. ₂The LORD said, “Ezekiel, son of man, these men are making evil plans and giving dangerous advice to the people of Jerusalem. ₃They say things like, ‘Let's build more houses. This city is like a cooking pot over a fire, and we are the meat, but at least the pot keeps us from being burnt in the fire.’ ₄So, Ezekiel, condemn them!”

₅The LORD's Spirit took control of me and told me to tell these leaders:

₁₃Before I finished speaking, Pelatiah dropped dead. I bowed down and cried out, “Please, LORD God, don't kill everyone left in Israel.”

₁My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than others. ₂All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.

₃By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions. ₄It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. ₅Our tongues are small too, and yet they boast about big things.

It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! ₆The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person's entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself. ₇All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. ₈But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison.

_9-10My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be ₁₁Can clean water and dirty water both flow from the same spring? ₁₂Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? Does fresh water come from a well full of salt water?

₁₃Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. ₁₄But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don't boast or lie to cover-up the truth. ₁₅That kind of wisdom doesn't come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. ₁₆Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. ₁₇But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. ₁₈When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.