4 As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north. It was a great cloud with fire continually flashing from it. A bright light was around it and glowing metal was in its midst. 5 Within it there were four living beings with human form. 6 Each had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight with feet like calves hooves. These were like burnished bronze. 8 They had human like hands on four sides under their wings. As for their faces and wings, 9 their wings touched one another and their faces did not turn as they moved. Each one went straight forward. 10 Each had the face of a man and all four had the face of a lion on the right, of a bull on the left as well as the face of an eagle. 11 Their wings spread out above them. Each used two wings to touch another being and two wings to cover his body. 12 Each being went straight forward, following wherever the spirit was about to go. They did not turn as they went. 13 The living creatures had the appearance of burning coals of fire. There was the appearance of torches going back and forth among them. The fire was bright, and out of the fire came lightning. 14 The living beings ran to and for like bolts of lightning.

15 As I looked at the living beings, I saw one wheel on the earth beside each of the living beings. 16 Workmanship of the wheels made them appear to be like sparkling beryl. All four were alike. It seemed as though one wheel was within the others. 17 They moved in any of four directions without turning as they moved. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four were full of eyes. 19 Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. 20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. The wheels always rose close beside them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. 21 They always moved together, whether they stood still, or rose up from the earth, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

22 Over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, having an awesome gleam of crystal spreading out over their heads. 23 Under the expanse their wings stretched out straight toward each other's wings. Each one covered his body with two of his wings. 24 Their wings made a sound like much rushing water, like the voice of the Almighty. When they stood still their wings dropped beside them. 25 A voice came from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26 Above this expanse was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27 From His loins upward He was covered with what looked like glowing metal. From His loins down was the appearance of fire. A radiance was all around Him. 28 The radiance that surrounded Him was something like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. Such was the glory of the LORD. When I saw it I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel 2 - RWB Paraphrase (10 V)
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God Calls Ezekiel
1 The voice said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet while I speak to you!" 2 As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I listened as He spoke. 3 He said, "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel. They are a rebellious people like their fathers who transgressed against me." 4 "They are stubborn and obstinate children and I am sending you to tell them what I want them to hear." 5 "They are rebellious and I want you to tell them whether or not they will listen. I want them to know that a prophet is among them." 6 "You, son of man, are not to fear them or their words, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions." 7 "They are rebellious. I want you to speak My words whether or not they listen." 8 "Son of man, listen to what I say and do not be rebellious like they are. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you."

9 I looked and a hand extended toward me holding a scroll. 10 He spread the scroll out in front of me. It had words written on the front and back. They spoke of Lamentations, mourning and woe.

Ezekiel 3 - RWB Paraphrase (27 V)
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God Calls Ezekiel To Be A Watchman
1 Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I ate the scroll. 3 He said to me, "Son of man, fill up on this scroll which I am giving you." So I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

COMMENT: This remind me of:

Revelation 10:9 So I went to the angel and asked him for the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat all of it. It will be bitter in your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth."

4 Then He said, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them." 5 "You are not being sent to a people with a difficult language. This is the house of Israel." 6 "They understand your language and I am sending you, so they should listen." 7 "Yet I know they will not want to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn."

8 "Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads." 9 "I have made your forehead like emery, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed at their rebelliousness." 10 He continued talking to me, saying, "Son of man, listen closely to all My words." 11 "Go to the exiles, the sons of your people, and tell then what I say whether or not they will listen."

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me. It said, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place." 13 I heard the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them. It was a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. And my spirit was bitter because the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

15 I came to the captives at Telabib by the River Chebar, and sat among them. I was astonished for seven days. 16 After that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel. Whatever you hear Me say, then give them My warning." 18 "When I give a message for the wicked saying that he will surely die for his wicked ways, if you do not warn him, I will require his blood at your hand." 19 "But if you have warned the wicked man, and he dies in his iniquity, you will have delivered yourself."

20 "And when a righteous man turns from his righteousness to commits iniquity, and dies, his righteous deeds shall not be remembered, and I will require his blood at your hand." 21 "However, if you have warned the righteous man that he must not sin and he stops sinning, he shall live because he took warning, and you have delivered yourself."

22 The hand of the LORD was on me, and He said to me, "Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you." 23 So I got up and went out to the plain, and there I saw the glory of the LORD. It was like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 It was then that the spirit entered me and made me stand up. He told me to go shut myself up in my house. 25 "Son of man, they will bind you with ropes so that you are prevented from going out of your house." 26 "Beside this, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth. You will not be able to speak and rebuke them." 27 "But when I tell you to, you will open your mouth and tell them My words. He who is willing to listen, let him do so. And he who refuses, let him alone, for theirs is a rebellious house."

COMMENT: Though we may feel constrained to warn someone, it is their choice whether or not to take the warning to heart.

Ezekiel 4 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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Vision Of Sin And Judgment
1 "Get a brick, son of man, and inscribe the name Jerusalem on it. Then place it in front of you." 2 "Then lay siege against it by building a siege wall. Raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams all around it." 3 "Get an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it so that it is under siege. Let this be a sign to the house of Israel." 4 "Then you are to lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on yourself. And you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie there." 5 "For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days. Thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel." 6 "When you have completed three hundred and ninety days, then you shall lie down a again on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned forty days to you, a day for each year." 7 "Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared as you prophesy against it." 8 "I will place ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege."

9 "Place wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, in a storage jar, and use these to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the three hundred and ninety days that you lie on your side." 10 "You may eat twenty shekels (8 ounces) by weight of this food each day." 11 "As needed you shall drink two to three cups of water." 12 "You shall eat this food as you would a barley cake, having baked the bread over human dung while the people watch." 13 Then the LORD said,"This is how the children of Israel will eat their bread in just such an unclean manner while I banish them among the nations."

14 But I said, "lord, I have never been defiled from my youth until now. I have never eaten what died or that which was torn by beasts. And no unclean meat has ever entered my mouth." 15 Then He said to me,"Very well. I will give you cow's dung over which to prepare your bread." 16 In addition to this He said,"Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair." 17 "For their food and water will be scarce and they will be appalled at the sight of each other as they waste away because of their sin."

Ezekiel 5 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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Jerusalem Will Be A Public Example
1 "As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, and use it to cut the hair of your head and your beard. Weigh it on a scale and divide it." 2 "Burn one third at the center of the city when the days of siege are complete. One third you shall strike with the sword all around the city, and one third you shall scatter to the wind while I unsheathe a sword behind them." 3 "Take a few of the hairs and bind them in the edge of your robes." 4 "Throw a few more into the fire. From there it will spread to all of the house of Israel."

5 Thus says the LORD."I have set Jerusalem at the center of the nations." 6 "But she has rebelled against My ordinances to a greater degree than all other nations, for she has rejected My ordinances and not walked in My statutes." 7 "Therefore, she will have more turmoil than the nations around her." 8 "For this reason I am against her, "Says the LORD, "And I will execute judgments for all the nations to witness." 9 "Because of all her abominations I will do to her what I have never done before, or will ever do again." 10 "Fathers will eat their sons and sons will eat their fathers. My judgments on you will scatter your remnant to every wind."

COMMENT: While this statement seems extreme and difficult to imagine, haven't we all thought we would never do something and then found ourselves wanting to do that very thing? We do not know our true self until we are pushed to our very limit.

11 "As I live, " declares the LORD, "Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all of your detestable idols and other abominations, I will withdraw from you without pity." 12 "One third of you will die by plague or famine, one third will fall by the sword, and one third will be scattered to the winds. And I will send the sword after these as well." 13 "In this way I will spend My anger and satisfy My wrath. Then they will know that I the LORD have spoken in My zeal." 14 "I will make you a reproach and desolation among the nations around you and those who pass by." 15 "You will be reviled, a warning and object of horror to other nations, when in My anger I execute these judgments against you. I the LORD have spoken."

16 "When I send the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you, I will make the famine very intense." 17 "And I will send wild beasts to bereave you of your children. There will be plague and bloodshed by the sword. I the LORD have spoken."

Ezekiel 6 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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Ezekiel Prophesies Against The Mountains
1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, look toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them." 3 Say, "Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the LORD GOD! He says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys, 'Behold, I am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.'." 4 "Your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed. I will make your slain fall in front of your idols." 5 "I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel in front of their idols, and scatter your bones around your altars." 6 "All your cities will become a waste and the high places will be desolate. Your idols will be broken down to rubble. Your incense altars will be cut down, and your works blotted out." 7 "As the slain fall among you, you will know that I am the LORD." 8 "I will, however, leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations to where you will be scattered." 9 "Those who escape among the nations will remember Me and how I was hurt by their adulterous hearts, and their eyes which played the harlot going after their idols. They will loath themselves for all the evil they have committed." 10 "Then they will know that I am the LORD. They will understand that I meant what I said when I promised disaster to come upon them."

11 "This is what the LORD God says, "Clap your hands and stamp your feet. Cry out 'Alas!' Because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. 12 "He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword. And those who remain will be besieged in walled cities and die by famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them." 13 "Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols and around their altars, on every high hill and on the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and leafy oak, all the places where they offered a soothing aroma to their idols." 14 "Throughout their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them, to make the land a desolate place. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 7 - RWB Paraphrase (27 V)
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God Will Pour Out His Anger
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "O son of man, thus says the LORD to Israel. The end is coming to every part of the land." 3 "I am sending My anger against you and the end is coming. I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you." 4 "My eye will have no pity on you, for I will bring your ways back on you. Then you will know that I am the LORD!"

5 Thus says the LORD GOD, "A unique disaster is coming!" 6 "Your end has come." 7 "Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The day is near. Instead of joyful shouting on the mountains there will be the sound of a tumult." 8 "I am about to pour out My wrath on you. I will judge you according to all your abominations." 9 "I will show no pity. You are to be repayed according to your ways. Then you will know that I am the LORD and it is I who am giving out punishment."

10 "Behold, the day is coming! Your doom has gone forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed." 11 "Violence has matured into wickedness. None of these people or their wealth shall remain." 12 "The time has come when neither the buyer or the seller will have any reason for rejoicing, for wrath is against them." 13 "Indeed, the seller will loose everything. Their sin will be their end."

14 "They have blown the trumpet to assemble for battle. They have made everything ready, but no one is going to battle, for My wrath is against all of them." 15 "The sword is without and plague and famine are within. Those in the field will die by the sword. Famine and plague will take those in the city." 16 "Though some may escape to the mountains, each will mourn for his iniquity." 17 "Everyone's hands will hang limp and his knees will be like water." 18 "They will put on sackcloth and their shuddering will overwhelm them." 19 "They will fling their silver into the streets and even their gold will be abhorrent to them. These cannot deliver them from the wrath of the LORD. Their appetite cannot be satisfied, for their iniquity is causing them to stumble." 20 "They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. Therefore I will cause them to hate these things." 21 "I will give these things into the hands of foreigners who plunder the earth." 22 "I am turning My face away from them, for they have profaned My secret place." 23 "Chains are inevitable, for the land is full of bloody crimes. The city has become full of violence." 24 "Therefore, I am bringing the worst of the nations to possess their houses. The strong will cease to be strong and their holy places will be profaned." 25 "When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but it will be too late."

26 "Disaster will follow disaster and rumors will make it seem even worse. Though they seek a vision from a prophet, the law will be lost to the priests and the elders." 27 "The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed in disgrace and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct. They will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 8 - RWB Paraphrase (18 V)
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The Sins Of The People
1 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah, the hand of the LORD GOD fell on me. 2 As I looked, I saw what looked like a man. From His loins down he had the appearance of fire. And from His loins up he was very bright, like glowing metal.

COMMENT: This would seem to be a vision of Jesus.

3 Stretching out His hand He caught me by my hair, and the Spirit lifted me up between heaven and earth. He brought me in vision to Jerusalem, to the north gate of the inner court where the idol which provokes God to jealousy was located. 4 I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, as I had seen previously on the plain.

5 He said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I raise my eyes to the north and saw the idol of jealousy north of the alter gate. 6 He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they have done by placing this idol in My sanctuary? But there are even greater abominations." 7 He brought me to the entrance of the court where I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He told me to dig through the wall. So I dug through the wall and made an entrance. 9 He told me to go in and see the wicked abominations being committed there. 10 I entered and saw every form of creeping things, beasts and detestable things. Idols were carved on all the walls. 11 Seventy elders of the house of Israel stood in front of these things. Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan was in their midst. Every man had his censer and there was a thick cloud of incense.

12 Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders are committing in secret? Each man has carved an image. They say that the LORD does not see because He has forsaken the land."

COMMENT: When we are tempted to think that the Lord has forgotten about us because we do not sense His guidance, remember that He does not always act as quickly as we would like for Him to.

13 And He said to me, "You will see that there are even greater abominations being committed." 14 He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the LORD's house where women sat as they wept for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see even greater abominations." 16 He brought me to the inner court of the LORD's house. At the temple entrance between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty five men facing east with their backs to the temple as they prostrated themselves to the sun. 17 He said, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it a light thing for the house of Judah to commit these abominations? They have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me, mocking Me with these things." 18 "So I will deal with them in My wrath. Though they cry loudly to Me, I will not listen or have any pity for them."

Ezekiel 9 - RWB Paraphrase (11 V)
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The Death Of Idolaters
1 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, "Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand." 2 Six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his weapon. Among them was a man clothed in linen with a writing case. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 The glory of the God of Israel went up to the threshold of the temple from the cherub on which it had been. He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing case, 4 saying to him, "Go throughout the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the forehead of every man who sighs and groans over all the abominations which are being committed."

COMMENT: Revelation uses the mark in the forehead to signify allegiance. This mark can signify good or bad.

Revelation 13:16 And he causes all, both great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead,

5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go throughout the city after him and strike down without pity and spare none." 6 "Slay every man, young and old and maidens, and even little children and women. Do not touch any man having the mark. And begin in My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who were before the temple. 7 "He said to the men with destroying weapons, defile the temple filling its courts with those you kill. Go now!" So they went out and struck down the people of the city.

8 As I watched them striking down all the people I was left alone. I fell on my face and cried out, "O LORD God, will You destroy the whole remnant of Israel as You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem?"

9 Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel is very, very great. The land is filled with blood and perversion. They say that the LORD has forsaken the land does not see!" 10 "Therefore, My eye will take no pity on them or spare them."

11 Then the man in linen with the writing case, reported saying, "I have done just as You commanded."

Ezekiel 10 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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Burning Coals Scattered Over Jerusalem
1 I looked in the expanse over the heads of the cherubim and saw something like sapphire stone shaped like a throne. 2 The One on the throne spoke to the man clothed in linen, saying, "Enter between the wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire and scatter them over the city." I watched as he did this. 3 The cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when he entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple and the court was filled with the His brightness. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court. It was like the voice of God Almighty. 6 When He commanded the man clothed in linen to take fire from between the wheels, he stood beside the wheels. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand to the fire between the cherubim and taking some coals, he placed them in the hands of the man dressed in linen, who then took the coals and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have a man's hand under their wings. 9 I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, a wheel for each of them. The wheels looked like sparkling chrysolite. 10 The wheels looked alike and appeared to be within one another. 11 As they moved, they went in any of four directions without needing to turn. They went whichever way they faced. 12 Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were full of eyes, as were the four wheels. 13 I heard the wheels referred to as whirling wheels. 14 Each being had four faces. The first was the face of a cherub. The second the face of a man. The third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 Then the cherubim rose up. These were the same four I had seen by the river Chebar. 16 Wherever the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them. Even when the cherubim mounted up on their wings, the wheels remained beside them. 17 When the cherubim stood still, so did the wheels. No matter where they went, the wheels went with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, the wheels going with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Chebar River, and I knew that they were the cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces and four wings. Beneath their wings were what appeared to be human hands. 22 Their faces were the same as I had seen by the river Chebar. And each one went straight ahead.

Ezekiel 11 - RWB Paraphrase (25 V)
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God Will Gather Israel Together Once More
1 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD's house. Twenty five men were at the entrance of the gate. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 He said to me, "Son of man, these men devise iniquity and give evil counsel in this city." 3 They say, "The time is not near to build houses, for this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh." 4 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy against them!" 5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and told me to say, "Thus says the LORD, I know every one of your thoughts, O house of Israel." 6 "You have filled the streets of this city with your slain." 7 "Therefore, the LORD God says, those you have slain are the flesh and this city is the pot. But I will bring you out of it." 8 The LORD says, "You have feared the sword, so I will bring a sword upon you." 9 "Strangers will execute judgments against you outside the city." 10 "You will fall by the sword. I will bring this judgment on you as far as the border of Israel. You will understand that I am the LORD." 11 "This city will not be a pot for you." 12 "You will know that I am the LORD, for you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances. Instead you have followed the ordinances of the nations around you."

13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. I fell face down and cried out in a loud voice, "Ah, LORD GOD! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?" 14 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 15 "Son of man, your blood relatives and the whole house of Israel, have said, 'They are far away from the LORD, this land was given to us as our possession.'." 16 "Therefore, thus says the LORD God, 'Though I had scattered them among the nations, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.'" 17 "Therefore the LORD GOD says, 'I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered. I will give you back the land of Israel.'." 18 "When the people come back they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations." 19 "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of them and give them a heart of flesh," 20 "that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God." 21 "But to those whose hearts continue to go after their detestable things, I will bring their conduct down on their heads," declares the LORD GOD.

22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. 23 The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea in the vision given by the Spirit of God. This was the end of the vision I had seen. 25 I then told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

Ezekiel 12 - RWB Paraphrase (28 V)
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Punishment Is Certain
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear." 3 "Therefore, prepare baggage for going into exile while they watch. Though they are rebellious, perhaps they will understand." 4 "Bring out your baggage as they watch. It should be the baggage that one would take into exile." 5 "As they watch, dig a hole in the wall and go out through it." 6 "Place the baggage on your shoulder and carry it away in the dark. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land. I am making you a sign to the house of Israel."

7 So I did as the LORD commanded. During the day I brought out my baggage as one would take into exile. Then at evening I a dug through the wall with my hands. While they watched, I went out in the dark carrying my baggage on my shoulder.

8 In the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man, has not the rebellious house of Israel asked you what you are doing?'" 10 "Say to them, 'This is what the LORD God says to the prince in Jerusalem and everyone who is there.'" 11 "Say, 'I am a sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to you. You will go into exile and captivity.'" 12 "The prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder and go out in the dark after he has dug a hole through the wall. He will cover his face so that he can not see the land." 13 "But I will cause him to be caught and taken to Babylon, and there he will die." 14 "I will scatter his helpers to the wind as well as all his troops. And many will die by the sword." 15 "Then they will know that I am the LORD after I scatter them among the nations." 16 "I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine and the pestilence, that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they will go, and that they may know that I am the LORD."

17 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18 "Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water." 19 "And say to the people of the land, 'Thus says the LORD GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it.'" 20 "The inhabited cities will be laid waste and the land will be a desolation, that you may know that I am the LORD."

21 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 "Son of man, what is this proverb your people have concerning the land of Israel, when they say, 'The days are long and every vision fails?'" 23 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it in Israel. Tell them, the days draw near when every vision will be fulfilled.'" 24 "For there will be no more false visions or flattering revelations among the people of Israel." 25 "For I the LORD will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. There will be no more delay, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it."

26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 "Son of man, the house of Israel says that the vision will be fulfilled after many years. His prophesies are for a time far off." 28 "Tell them, 'My words will no longer be delayed. Whatever I speak will be performed right away, '" declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 13 - RWB Paraphrase (23 V)
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Judgment Against False Prophets
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy My words against the prophets of Israel who prophesy by their own inspiration, saying." 3 "Thus says the LORD God, 'Woe to the foolish prophets who speak without receiving any word from Me.'" 4 "O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among the ruins." 5 "You have not strengthened the house of Israel for battle in the day of the LORD." 6 "When a prophet falsely claims that the LORD has sent a message through him, the people still hope for fulfillment of the prophesy." 7 "Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying prophesies that have not come from Me?" 8 "The LORD declares, 'Because you have lied, I am against you.'." 9 "So My hand is against all false prophets uttering lying prophesies. They will have no place in the council of My people. Neither will they enter the land of Israel, that they may know that I am the LORD God."

10 "They have misled My people when they said, 'Peace!' When there is no peace. They are like those who plaster over a wall with whitewash." 11 "Those who plaster the wall with whitewash should know that the whitewash will not keep the wall from falling. A heavy rain with hailstones will come and a violent wind will cause it to fall." 12 "When the wall has fallen will you not be held accountable?" 13 Therefore, the LORD GOD says, "In My wrath I will send a violent wind, rain and hailstones to break up and consume the wall." 14 "So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash, so that its foundation will be laid bare. And when the wall falls, you will be consumed with it. Then you will know that I am the LORD." 15 "I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash." 16 "So it will be for the prophets who said there would be peace in Jerusalem." 17 "Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination." 18 "And say, 'This is what the LORD GOD says, Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?'" 19 "You have profaned Me among My people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live." 20 Therefore, thus says the LORD GOD, "Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt lives as you would birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and deliver those lives whom you hunt as birds." 21 "I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted. And you will know that I am the LORD." 22 "Because you have disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life," 23 "therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. By this you will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 14 - RWB Paraphrase (23 V)
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Idolatry Condemned
1 Then some elders of Israel came and sat down before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, these men have not repented of the idols in their hearts and have put a stumbling block of their iniquity right in front of their faces. Should I even be consulted by them?"

COMMENT: What idols might be resident in our hearts? Might they cause God to not answer when we call on Him?

4 "Tell them that the LORD GOD says, 'Any man of the house of Israel who sets up idols in his heart, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will give him an answer according to his many idols," 5 "so that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are enstranged from Me through their abominations." 6 "Therefore, tell them to repent and turn away from their idols and all their other abominations." 7 "For anyone of the house of Israel or those who are immigrants in Israel, who hangs on to his idols, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I will Myself bring him an answer."

COMMENT: It may not be the kind of answer that is expected.

8 "I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD." 9 "But if a prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the LORD, who has prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel." 10 "They will bear their guilt. The prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him." 11 "This is how it must be in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God," declares the LORD GOD.

12 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 13 "Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it to destroy its supply of bread, and send famine and cut off both man and beast in it," 14 "even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves," declares the LORD GOD.

COMMENT: This does not mean that either of these three men are saved by their own goodness. It does mean that the things one is judged by cannot transfer to anyone else. The only exception is that the righteousness of Jesus Christ can be applied to oneself when we place our faith in Him, to be transferred to us as we repent of our sin and claim His righteousness in place of our own.

15 "If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land killing everyone in it, and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts," 16 "though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the LORD GOD, "They could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, and the country would be desolate." 17 "Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, 'Let the sword cut off man and beast from the country,'" 18 "Even though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the LORD GOD, "They could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered." 19 "Or if I send a plague into that land, pouring out my wrath upon it through bloodshed, killing its men and their animals." 20 "As surely as I live," declares the LORD GOD, "Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness." 21 "For thus says the LORD GOD, 'This is how it must be when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem, sword, famine, wild beasts and plague, to cut off man and beast from it!'" 22 "Yet, there will be survivors, both sons and daughters. This will give you comfort in spite of the calamity I have brought against Jerusalem." 23 "You will be comforted when you see that what I have done has not been in vain, " declares the LORD God.

Ezekiel 15 - RWB Paraphrase (8 V)
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Jerusalem Compared To A Useless Vine
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest?" 3 "Can wood from the vine be used to make anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on?" 4 "After it has been thrown on the fire for fuel and all that remains is charred wood, is that useful?" 5 "If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, it is even less useful after it has been burned." 6 "Therefore this is what the LORD GOD says, 'As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I do with the people living in Jerusalem.'" 7 "I have set My face against them. I will leave them in the fire until it consumes them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them." 8 "Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness."

Ezekiel 16 - RWB Paraphrase (63 V)
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Israel's Loathsome Sins
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, make known to Jerusalem all her abominations." 3 "Say to her, 'Thus says the LORD GOD to Jerusalem, Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.'." 4 "On the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water. Neither were you rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths."

COMMENT: Does the fact that the navel cord was not cut signify the clinging to the ways of the mother and a lack of conversion? Being rubbed with salt signifies a form of cleansing and being wrapped in clothes signifies Christ's righteousness.

5 "No one pitied you and did this for you. You were abhorred and thrown into an open field on the day you were born." 6 "I passed by and saw you squirming in your blood. At that moment I decided that you should live."

7 "Though you grew tall and you matured, you remained naked." 8 "I passed by and saw that it was time for you to be married. So I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I made a marriage covenant with you and you became mine, " declares the LORD God. 9 "Then I bathed you with water, wash your blood off and anointed you with oil." 10 "I put an embroidered dress on you and leather sandals on your feet. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments." 11 "I adorned you with ornaments, putting bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck." 12 "I placed a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head." 13 "You were adorned with gold and silver. You wore a dress of fine linen, with silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil. You were very beautiful and were brought to a position of royalty." 14 "Your fame and beauty was known among the nations because of the splendor I bestowed on you," declares the LORD.

15 "But you came to trust in your beauty and played the harlot, giving yourself to every willing passerby." 16 "You used your beautiful clothing made for royal purposes to entice your lovers." 17 "You did the same with your jewels and My gold and silver, using them to make male images with which you played the harlot." 18 "You covered them with your embroidered cloth, and offered My oil and My incense to them." 19 "You offered them bread made from fine flour, oil and honey, which I had given to you." 20 "You even took your sons and daughters that were born to me and sacrificed them to idols. Do you consider this to be a small matter?" 21 "You made My children pass through the fire." 22 "In addition to all of this, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and had nothing, when you squirmed in your own blood." 23 "Woe to you, for after all your wickedness," 24 "you built for yourself a shrine and made a place of false worship in every square." 25 "You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, offering yourself to every passerby."

26 "You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your other lustful neighbors, making Me angry with your many harlotries." 27 "So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory, I gave you over to the greed of your enemies who were shocked by your lewdness."

28 "And you were a harlot with the Assyrians but were not satisfied with them either." 29 "You also multiplied your harlotry with the merchants of Babylon, and still you were not satisfied." 30 "How weak willed you are, " declares the LORD GOD, "When you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute!" 31 "You built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made a high place in every square. You were not like a harlot, for money was not your goal." 32 "You adulteress wife, taking strangers instead of your husband!" 33 "Usually men give gifts to harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers to bribe them to come to you from every direction." 34 "In this way you are different from harlots, because you give money instead of taking it."

35 "Therefore, you prostitute, hear the Word of the LORD!" 36 "Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols," 37 "therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, as well as those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose you that they may see your nakedness." 38 "I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood. I will bring My wrath and jealous anger upon you." 39 "I will give you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and leave you naked." 40 "They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords." 41 "They will burn your houses, executing judgments on you in the sight of many women. I will stop you from playing the harlot, and paying your lovers." 42 "Thus My fury against you will subside and My jealousy over you will diminish."

43 "Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me by all these things, I will bring your conduct down on your own head, " declares the LORD GOD, "So that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations."

44 "Here is a proverb everyone will quote concerning you. 'Like mother, like daughter.'" 45 "Your mother loathed her husband children, and so do you. Your sisters were the same way. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite." 46 "Your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters." 47 "Your conduct has been even worse than theirs." 48 "Sodom has not done as much wrong as you and your daughters have." 49 "Your sister Sodom was guilty of arrogance because she had so much but would not help the poor." 50 "Because of her haughtiness I removed her." 51 "And Samaria did not commit half the sins that you committed. Your many abominations have made your sisters appear righteous." 52 "Your disgrace has made judgment more favorable for your sisters for they are more in the right than you." 53 "Nevertheless, I will restore their captivity along with yours." 54 "I want you to feel humiliation and shame for your sins."

55 "You and your sisters will return to what you were before." 56 "Just as your sister Sodom was not spoken of," 57 "before your wickedness became known, so now you are a reproach to Edom and the Philistines." 58 "You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, " declares the LORD. 59 For thus says the LORD GOD, "I will do with you according to what you have done by breaking the covenant." 60 "But I will remember My covenant made with you in your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you." 61 "Then you will be ashamed when you remember your ways as you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will make them as daughters to you, but not on the basis of My covenant with you." 62 "Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD," 63 "so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done, " says the LORD GOD.

Ezekiel 17 - RWB Paraphrase (24 V)
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The Riddle Of The Great Eagle
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, pose a riddle and a parable to the house of Israel." 3 "Say to them, 'This is what the LORD God says, A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar," 4 "he plucked the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders." 5 "He also took some of the seed of the land planted it in fertile soil. He provided abundant waters for it, and he set it out like a willow." 6 "It sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it while sending out branches." 7 "But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water." 8 "It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine."

9 "Say to them, 'Thus says the LORD GOD, Will it thrive? Will he not pull it up by its roots and cut off its fruit, so that all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it grow up from its roots again." 10 "Even if it is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind comes?"

COMMENT: God planted Israel in Canaan. Eventually Israel began looking to its neighbors. So God finally decided to uproot Israel.

11 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 12 "Say to this rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean? The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles to Babylon." 13 "Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath to be ruler. He also carried away the leading men of the land," 14 "so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty." 15 "But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?" 16 "The LORD GOD declares, 'Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even in Babylon he shall die.'." 17 "Pharaoh with his mighty army will not help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build siege walls to cut off many lives," 18 "because he despised his oath and broke the covenant, pledging his allegiance, and yet doing all these things, he shall not escape."

19 "Therefore this is what the LORD God says, 'As surely as I live, I will bring down on his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.'." 20 "I will spread My net over him, and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there because of his unfaithfulness to Me." 21 "All the choice men among his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken."

22 Thus says the LORD GOD, "I will also take a sprig from the very top of the tall cedar and plant it on a high and lofty mountain." 23 "On the high mountain of Israel it will bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in the shade of its branches." 24 "All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree to flourish. I am the LORD, I have spoken, and I will perform it."

Ezekiel 18 - RWB Paraphrase (32 V)
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Each Person Is Responsible For His Own Sin
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "What do you people mean by applying this proverb to the land of Israel, 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?'" 3 The LORD GOD declares, "You are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore." 4 "Take note, all souls are Mine. The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. It is the soul who sins that will die." 5 "But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness," 6 "and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period," 7 "and if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores his pledge to the debtor, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing," 8 "if he does not charge interest of his brother or take excessive interest from a foreigner, and keeps from doing wrong and judges fairly between men," 9 "if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully, he is righteous and will surely live, " declares the LORD GOD.

10 "He may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother." 11 "If he eats at the mountain shrines, or defiles his neighbor's wife," 12 "oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination," 13 "if he lends money for interest, will he live? No he won't! If he has committed these abominations, he will surely be put to death, for his blood will be on his own head."

14 "If a son observes his father doing all of these things but does not do them himself," 15 "not eating at the mountain shrines or lifting up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defiling his neighbor's wife," 16 "or oppressing anyone, or retaining a pledge, or committing robbery, but instead gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing," 17 "if he keeps his hand from taking from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes, then he will not die for his father's iniquity, but surely live." 18 "As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity." 19 "Yet you might ask, 'Why shouldn't the son bear the punishment for the father's iniquity?' I say to you, when the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes, he shall surely live."

20 "The soul who sins will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him." 21 "But if a wicked man turns away from his sins and keeps all my decrees, doing what is just and right, he will not die." 22 "All his transgressions will not be remembered. Because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live."

23 "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, " declares the LORD god."i would that he should turn away for his evil ways and live." 24 "But when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, committing sin and doing all the abominations that a wicked man does, all his righteous deeds will not be remembered because of his treachery in turning to sin, and he will die."

25 "Yet you may question whether the LORD is right, O house of Israel! My ways are right and your ways are not!" 26 "When a righteous man turns from his righteousness, committing iniquity, he will die for the sins he committed." 27 "And again, when a wicked man turns from his wicked ways and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life." 28 "Having decided to turn from his wicked ways, he shall live and not die."

29 "But the house of Israel says the LORD's way is not right! But My ways are right and yours are not!" 30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge each one according to his conduct, " declares the LORD God."Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not cause you to stumble." 31 "Cast away all your transgressions and determine to have a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?" 32 "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone," declares the LORD God."So, repent and live."

Ezekiel 19 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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A Lamentation For Israel's Leaders
1 Take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel. 2 Say, "'What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions to rear her cubs." 3 "One of her cubs became a lion, and learned to tear his prey. He devoured men." 4 "Nations heard about him and captured him in their pit. They brought him to Egypt with hooks."

5 "The lioness waited and when she saw her hope was lost for her first cub, she made a young lion of another of her cubs." 6 "As he became a young lion, he walked about among the lions, and learned to tear his prey, also devouring men." 7 "He destroyed their fortified towers and laid waste their cities. The land was appalled at his roaring." 8 "The nations set against him on every side, and spread their net over him, capturing him in their pit." 9 "They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon, so that his voice would be heard no more on the mountains of Israel."

10 "Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the waters, fruitful and full of branches." 11 "The strong branches were fit to be scepters of rulers. It stood higher than the clouds." 12 "But it was plucked up in fury and cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branch was torn off. It withered and was consumed in the fire." 13 "Now it is planted in the wilderness, a dry and thirsty land." 14 "And fire has gone out from its branch, consumed its shoots and its fruit. No strong branch remains to become a scepter to rule. This has become a lamentation."

Ezekiel 20 - RWB Paraphrase (49 V)
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A Reminder Of Rebellion
1 In the seventh year, on the tenth of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to sit before me and inquire of the LORD. 2 The LORD spoke to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, saying, Thus says the LORD God, 'Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,' says the LORD God, 'I will not be inquired of by you.'." 4 "Will you judge them, son of man? Then let them know the abominations of their fathers." 5 "Say to them, 'Thus says the LORD GOD, On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, saying, I am the LORD your God,'." 6 "On that day I swore to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, which is the best of all lands." 7 "I told them, 'Get rid of your detestable things, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt, for I am the LORD your God.'." 8 "But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt." 9 "I did this for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known by bringing them out of the land of Egypt." 10 "So I took them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness." 11 "I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which a man will live if he observes them." 12 "Also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between us, that they might know that I the LORD am the one who sanctifies them."

COMMENT: He gave them His Sabbaths, meaning that they were not a new ordinance. He originated them at creation. Sabbath is an opportunity to be sanctified by Him, or to be set apart and freed from sin.

13 "But Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which a man lives when he observes them. And they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness and annihilate them." 14 "I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, who watched as I brought them out of Egypt." 15 "In the wilderness I swore to them that I would not bring them into the best of all lands, flowing with milk and honey." 16 "I made this decision because they rejected My ordinances and statutes. They even profaned My Sabbaths, because their heart continually went after their idols."

17 "Yet I spared them and did not do away with them." 18 "I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the ways of your fathers, defiling yourselves with their idols.'" 19 "I am the LORD your God. Walk in My statutes and observe My ordinances." 20 "Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God." 21 "But the children also rebelled against Me, and did not walk in My statutes, or observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. They profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness."

22 "But I withheld My hand, and for the sake of My name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations who had watched as I brought them out of Egypt." 23 "I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations," 24 "because they had not observed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths. Their eyes were on the idols of their fathers." 25 "I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by." 26 "I pronounced them unclean because they sacrificed their firstborn in the fire. I made them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the LORD."

27 "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, The LORD GOD says, 'Your fathers blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me.'" 28 "When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they looked at every high hill and every leafy tree as a place to offer their sacrifices which provoked Me. It was there that they burned incense and poured out their drink offerings." 29 "I said to them, 'What is this high place you go to?' It is called Bamah to this day." 30 "Say to the house of Israel, The LORD GOD asks you, 'Will you defile yourselves just as your fathers did, doing these same detestable things?'"

31 "When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, " declares the LORD GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you." 32 "You may want to be like the nations around you, serving wood and stone." 33 "But I, the LORD God, shall be King over you with a mighty outstretched arm." 34 "And with that same arm I will bring you back from the lands where I have scattered you." 35 "I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face." 36 "I will enter into judgment with you the same way I did with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, " declares the LORD God. 37 "I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and bring you into the bond of the covenant." 38 "And I will purge the rebels from among you. This is how you will know that I am the LORD."

39 "As for you, O house of Israel, " thus says the LORD GOD, "Go, serve your idols, but later you will listen to Me, and no longer profane My holy name with your gifts and idols." 40 "For on My holy mountain all Israel will serve Me," declares the LORD God."There I will accept them and seek their contributions and holy gifts." 41 "I will accept you as a soothing aroma when I bring you out of the lands where I have scattered you. I will be holy among you in the sight of the nations." 42 "When I bring you into the land of Israel that I swore to give to your forefathers, you will know that I am the LORD." 43 "There you will remember how you defiled yourself, and you will loath the memory of all the evil things you have done." 44 "You will know that I am the LORD when I have dealt with you for My name's sake, and not according to your evil ways, O house of Israel, " declares the LORD God.

45 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 "Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev," 47 "and say to the forest of the Negev, hear the word of the LORD, thus says the LORD GOD, 'Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree, the blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from south to north will be burned by it.'" 48 "All flesh will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it, it shall not be quenched." 49 Then I said, "O LORD GOD! Now they are saying, 'He is just speaking in parables?"

Ezekiel 21 - RWB Paraphrase (32 V)
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Babylon Will Attack Judah
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the holy places. Prophesy against the land of Israel, saying," 3 "thus says the LORD, behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut you off from among the righteous and the wicked." 4 "My sword will go forth against all flesh from south to north." 5 "Thus all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath, and it will not return to its sheath."

6 "As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, as they watch." 7 "When they ask you why you groan, tell them it is because of the news of what is coming. Every heart will melt with feebleness. Every spirit will faint and knees will be weak as water. It is coming and will happen, " declares the LORD.

8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man, prophesy, 'Thus says the LORD. See the sharpened and polished sword!'" 10 "It is sharpened for slaughter. It will flash like lightning! Dare we make light of this?" 11 "The slayer is coming with his polished sword." 12 "Cry out and wail for what is coming against My people. Israel's officials are delivered to the swords along with My people." 13 "There will be a testing," declares the LORD. 14 "Prophesy, son of man. Clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times. It is a sword for great slaughter, closing in on them from every side." 15 "Their hearts will melt. Many will fall at their gates. The sword is ready for slaughter." 16 "Show yourself sharp, go to the right, set yourself, go to the left, whichever way you look." 17 "I will also clap My hands together, and I will appease My wrath. I, the LORD, have spoken."

18 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 19 "Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city." 20 "You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and to fortified Jerusalem in Judah." 21 "The king of Babylon will stand at the parting of the way, casting lots to determine which will be his destination." 22 "Into his right hand will come the choice, 'Jerusalem,' to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, and to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps and to build a siege wall." 23 "They cannot believe it will happen. But he brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized."

24 "Therefore, thus says the LORD GOD, 'Because your iniquity is remembered, and your transgressions uncovered, you will be seized." 25 "O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax," 26 "thus says the LORD GOD, 'Remove the turban and take off the crown. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.'" 27 "I will make it a ruin. It will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I give it to Him."

28 "Son of man, prophesy, saying, 'Thus says the LORD GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach, a sword is drawn and has been polished for slaughter. It will be like lightning." 29 "While they see false visions and lying divinations, it will come down on the necks of the wicked whose day has come and they are slain in the time of their end." 30 "Return the sword to its sheath. In the land of your origin, I will judge you." 31 "I will pour out My indignation on you, giving you into the hand of men skilled in brutal destruction." 32 "You will be fuel for the fire and your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken."

Ezekiel 22 - RWB Paraphrase (31 V)
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God Lists Jerusalem's Sins
1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, judge the bloody city and cause her to know all her abominations." 3 "Tell her the LORD says, 'Her time will come for she sheds blood. She makes idols that defile her.'" 4 "The blood you have shed makes you guilty, and you are defiled by your idols. You have hastened the day of your reproach, and you will be mocked by all lands." 5 "Those near and far will mock you." 6 "Your rulers have used their power to shed blood." 7 "They have not honored their parents. And they have oppressed the aliens, the fatherless and the widows." 8 "They have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths." 9 "Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. They have eaten at the mountain shrines and committed lewd acts." 10 "They have uncovered their father's nakedness and humbled her who is unclean during her menstrual impunity." 11 "One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife and another has defiled his daughter-in-law. And yet another has humbled his sister." 12 "They have taken bribes to shed blood, taken interest and illicit profits, injured their neighbors for gain, and have forgotten Me," declares the LORD GOD.

13 "I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed." 14 "Can you survive the days I have planned for you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act." 15 "I will scatter you among the nations and consume your uncleanness from you." 16 "You will be profaned in the sight of all nations, and you will know that I am the LORD."

17 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become as dross to Me. They are as bronze, tin, iron and lead in the furnace, as the dross within silver." 19 "Therefore, thus says the LORD GOD, 'Because all of you have become dross, therefore, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.'." 20 "As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead and tin into the furnace to be melted, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath I will melt you." 21 "I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the fierce fire." 22 "Just as silver is melted in the fire, so you will be melted. And you will know that I the LORD have poured out My wrath on you."

23 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 "Son of man, say to the land, 'You are a land that has had no rain because of My wrath.'" 25 "There has been a conspiracy of her prophets like a roaring lion tearing its prey and devouring lives. In their desire to accumulate treasure, they have made many widows." 26 "The priests have done violence to My law, profaned My holy things, making no distinction between the holy and the profane. They hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."

27 "The princes are like wolves tearing their prey as they shed blood and destroy for dishonest gain." 28 "The prophets smear whitewash with their false visions, claiming that the LORD has spoken through them." 29 "The people of the land practice oppression, commit robbery, wrong the poor and needy, and they wrongfully oppress the alien."

30 "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one."

COMMENT: Like Sodom, if the Lord did not find enough good people, He would destroy Jerusalem.

31 "So I will pour out my wrath on them, consuming them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their heads all they have done, " declares the LORD GOD.

Ezekiel 23 - RWB Paraphrase (49 V)
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A Parable Of Adultery
1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother." 3 "In their youth they played the harlot in Egypt. It was there that their virgin bosom was caressed." 4 "The older was named Oholah and the younger Oholibah. I married them and they bore Me sons and daughters. Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah."

5 "Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine. She lusted after her neighbors the Assyrians." 6 "They were clothed in purple. There were the governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, and mounted horsemen." 7 "She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with the idols of everyone she lusted after." 8 "She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, where during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and pouring out their lust upon her." 9 "So I gave her into the control of the Assyrians for whom she lusted." 10 "They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women because of the punishment inflicted on her."

11 "Even though her sister Oholibah watched all of this, she became even more corrupt than her sister." 12 "She too lusted after the Assyrians, its governors, commanders, warriors in full dress, and mounted horsemen. They were all handsome young men." 13 "She defiled herself by doing just like her older sister." 14 "But she carried her prostitution even further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans portrayed in red," 15 "girded with belts and with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, where they had been born." 16 "When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them." 17 "The Babylonians came to her and defiled her bed with their harlotry. After being defiled by them, she became disgusted with them."

18 "Because she uncovered her nakedness, I became disgusted with her, just as I had her sister." 19 "Yet she increased her harlotries, just as she did in the days of her youth in the land of Egypt." 20 "There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses."

21 "In this way you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled." 22 "Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the LORD GOD, 'Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side.'." 23 "The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses." 24 "They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield and helmet. And I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs." 25 "In My jealousy I will let them deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and consume your survivors with fire." 26 "They will strip you of your clothes and your beautiful jewels." 27 "Thus I will bring an end to your lewdness and harlotry which you brought from Egypt. You will no longer lift up your eyes or even remember Egypt." 28 "For thus says the LORD GOD, 'Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, those you turned away from in disgust." 29 "They will deal with you in hatred, taking your property and leaving you naked." 30 "This will be done because you played the harlot with the nations, and defiled yourself with their idols." 31 "You have followed the way of your sister and I will place her cup in your hand." 32 "You will drink from her cup, which is deep, wide, and scorned." 33 "You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, having drunk from the same cup of your sister Samaria." 34 "After drinking from her cup, you will break it in pieces and tear at your breasts. I the LORD God have spoken."

35 "Therefore, the LORD God says, 'Because you have forgotten Me, you must bear the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.'."

36 "The LORD said to me, 'Son of man, declare the abominations of Oholah and Oholibah.'" 37 "Blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and caused their sons to pass through the fire." 38 "They have defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths." 39 "They have slaughtered their children for their idols and entered My sanctuary to profane it on the same day."

40 "You have even invited men from far away, bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourself with ornaments in readiness for them." 41 "You sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you placed My incense and My oil."

42 "The noise of a carefree crowd surrounded you. Drunkards were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the arms of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads." 43 "Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, 'Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.'" 44 And they slept with her, as men sleep with a prostitute. So they slept with these lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. 45 "But righteous men will judge them as adulteresses and with the judgment for women who shed blood."

46 "This is what the LORD GOD says, 'Bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder.'" 47 "Stone them and cut them down with swords. Kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses with fire." 48 "In this way I will make an end to lewdness in the land, that others may learn from their experience." 49 "You will bear the penalty for your lewdness in worshiping your idols, and you will know that I am the LORD God."

Ezekiel 24 - RWB Paraphrase (27 V)
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A Parable Of The Cooking Pot
1 And the word of the LORD came to me in the ninth year on tenth day of the tenth month, saying, 2 "Son of man, write the name of this very day, for the king of Babylon has now laid siege to Jerusalem." 3 "Tell this rebellious house a parable, saying to them, This is what the LORD GOD says, 'Put on the cooking pot with water in it.'" 4 "Put in every good piece, including the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice bones." 5 "Take from the best of the flock. Pile wood under the pot and make it boil vigorously so the bones cook, too."

6 The LORD God says, "Woe to this bloody city. It is a pot in which there is rust. Take the pieces out without making choices." 7 "For the blood she shed is from within her midst. She poured it on the bare rock instead of the ground where the dust would cover it." 8 "Wrath is to come with vengeance. I have put her blood on the bare rock and it will not be covered."

9 Therefore this is what the LORD GOD says, "Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the wood high." 10 "Kindle the fire, boil the flesh well, mix in the spices, and burn the bones." 11 "Set the empty pot on the coals so that it its bronze may glow that its filthiness may be melted, and its rust consumed." 12 "She has frustrated My every effort. Yet even the fire has not removed her heavy deposit of rust." 13 "Your lewdness is filthy. I would have cleansed you, but you would not be cleansed from your filthiness. So My wrath must be fully spent on you." 14 "I, the LORD, have spoken, it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, or have pity. Your ways and deeds require this judgment on you," declares the LORD GOD.

15 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 16 "Son of man, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a single blow, and you shall not mourn or weep." 17 "Sigh, but not out loud. Make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet. Do not cover your mouth, or eat the bread of mourning."

18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. 19 The people asked me, "Won't you tell us what these things should mean to us?" 20 I said, "This is what the LORD has said to me." 21 "Speak to the house of Israel. Tell them I am about to profane My sanctuary, that which is your pride and delight. And your sons and daughters will fall by the sword." 22 "And you are not to cover your mouth or eat the bread of mourners." 23 "Your turbans will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You will not mourn or weep. And you will rot away in your iniquity while you groan to one another."

24 "Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you, for you will do as he has done. Then you will know that I am the LORD GOD."

25 "Son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their glory and joy, the delight of their eyes, their heart's desire, and their sons and daughters as well," 26 "on that day he who escapes will come to you with information for your ears?" 27 "Then your mouth will be opened. You will speak and no longer be silent. This will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 25 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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A Prophecy Against Ammon
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the sons of Ammon." 3 "Say to them, 'Hear the word of the LORD God! Because you profaned My sanctuary, and spoke against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile,'." 4 "I am going to give you to the sons of the east. They will make their dwellings among you, eat your fruit and drink your milk." 5 "I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus you will know that I am the LORD." 6 "For the LORD GOD says, 'Because you have rejoiced with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel,'." 7 "I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you and you will know that I am the LORD."

Prophesy Against Moab
8 "Thus says the LORD GOD, Because Moab and Seir say, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,'" 9 "I will expose the flank of Moab, even the glory of the land, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon and Kiriathaim," 10 "and give it along with the sons of Ammon to the sons of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations." 11 "In this way I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD."

Prophecy Against Edom
12 The LORD God says, "Because Edom took vengeance against the house of Judah, incurring grievous guilt," 13 "I will stretch out My hand against Edom cutting off man and beast. I will lay waste and they will fall by the sword from Teman to Dedan." 14 "I will use My people Israel to bring vengeance on Edom. They will act in Edom according to My wrath. Thus Edom will know My vengeance," says the LORD God.

Prophecy Against The Philistines
15 "The LORD God says that because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility they sought to destroy Judah," 16 "the LORD God will stretch out His hand against them, cutting off the Cherethites and destroying the remnant along the sea coast." 17 "He will execute great vengeance on them and they will know that He is the LORD."

Ezekiel 26 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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A Prophesy Against Tyre
1 On the first day of the month in the eleventh year, the word of the LORD came to me. 2 "Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me. Now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,'" 3 So the LORD says, "Behold, I am against you, O Tyre. I will bring many nations against you like waves of the sea." 4 "They will destroy your walls, break down your towers, and scrape your debris from you leaving, a bare rock." 5 "It will become a place to spread nets, for I have spoken," declares the LORD God. 6 "Her daughters on the mainland will be slain with the sword, and they will know that I am the LORD."

7 "I will bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the north against Tyre. He will come with horses, chariots and Calvary." 8 "He will slay your daughters on the mainland build siege walls and a ramp against you." 9 "He will break your walls with his battering ram and break down your towers with his axes." 10 "When he enters the gates of your city you will be covered with the dust raised by his horses. Your walls will shake from the noise of his cavalry, wagons and chariots." 11 "His horses will trample your streets as he slays your people with the sword. Your strong pillars will fall to the ground." 12 "Your riches will be their spoil as they destroy your pleasant houses, throwing their timbers and stones into the water."

13 "So I will silence the noise of your songs and your harps will be heard no more." 14 "I will make you a bare rock, a place for nets to be spread. You will be built no more, for I the LORD have spoken."

15 This is what the LORD God says to Tyre, "The coastlands will tremble when they hear of your fall, and your wounded groaning as you are slaughtered." 16 "All the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, remove their robes and embroidered garments. They will sit on the ground and tremble continually." 17 "They will lament over you, saying, 'How is it that Tyre has perished from the seas, who was renowned for her mighty city on the sea. She imposed her will on all her inhabitants!'" 18 "The coast lands will tremble to see you fall." 19 For the LORD God says, "I will make you a desolate and uninhabited city, causing the waters of the deep to cover you." 20 "I will bring you down to the pit and make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth." 21 "You will be no more. Though people may look for you, they will not find you." The LORD God has spoken.

Ezekiel 27 - RWB Paraphrase (36 V)
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The Greatness Of Tyre
1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, take up this lamentation against Tyre." 3 "Say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, and is merchant to many coastlands, and says to the LORD God, 'I am perfect in beauty.'" 4 "Your domain was on the high seas. Your builders brought your beauty to perfection." 5 "They made all your ship planks of fir trees from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you." 6 "They made your oars of Bashan's oak and your deck of cypress inlaid with ivory." 7 "Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt which became your distinguishing mark. Your awning was blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah." 8 "The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers and your wise men, O Tyre, were your pilots." 9 "Veteran craftsmen of Gebal were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea came alongside to trade for your wares." 10 "Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as your soldiers, hanging their shields and helmets on your walls, bringing splendor to you." 11 "Men of Arvad and Helech manned your walls on every side. Men of Gammad were in your towers, hanging their shields around your walls, bringing your beauty to perfection." 12 "Tarshish was one of your customers because of your abundant wealth. They paid for your merchandise in silver, iron, tin and lead." 13 "Javan, Tubal and Meshech were your traders, and with the lives of men and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise." 14 "Those from Togarmah gave horses, horsemen and mules for what you had." 15 "The sons of Dedan traded with you. Many coastlands were your market, bringing you ivory tusks and ebony as payment." 16 "Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods. They paid with emeralds, purple cloth, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies." 17 "Judah and the land of Israel traded with you bringing the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil and balm." 18 "Damascus also did business with you for your many products and great wealth of goods, paying with wine from Helbon and white wool." 19 "Dan and Javan bought wares that you got from Uzal, including wrought iron, cassia and sweet cane." 20 "Dedan traded with you in specialized cloth for chariots." 21 "Arabia and all the princes of Kedar bought your lambs, rams and goats." 22 "Traders from Sheba and Raamah paid for your wares with the best of spices, precious stones and gold." 23 "Haran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you," 24 "buying your choice garments made with blue cloth and embroidered work, as well as carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords." 25 "Ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise, and you were filled with glorious things from across the seas."

26 "Your oarsmen will take you out to the high seas, but the east wind will break you to pieces when you are far from shore." 27 "Everything associated with your commerce will be lost at sea." 28 "Even the pasture land will shake when your pilots cry out." 29 "The oarsmen, the sailors and the pilots will leave their ships and stay on the land." 30 "They will cry bitterly, casting dust on their heads and wallowing in ashes." 31 "They will become bald and put on sackcloth as they weep in bitterness of soul." 32 "Besides this, they will lament for you, saying, 'Who is like Tyre, who is in the midst of the sea?'" 33 "When your wares went out from the seas, you satisfied many peoples with your abundant wealth. Your merchandise enriched the kings of earth." 34 "When you are broken your merchandise will perished with you." 35 "All the inhabitants of the coastlands will be appalled at your demise and their kings will fear for themselves." 36 "The merchants among the nations deride you, for you have come to a horrible end and will be no more."

Ezekiel 28 - RWB Paraphrase (26 V)
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The King Of Tyre Is Condemned
1 The word of the LORD came me once more, saying, 2 "Son of man say to the leader of Tyre that his heart is lifted up until he considers himself to be as god sitting in the heart of the seas, though he is only a man." 3 "He considers himself to be wiser than Daniel with no secret to great for him."

COMMENT: So Daniel was well known throughout the land at this time.

4 "Say to him, 'By your wisdom and understanding you have acquired riches in gold and silver for your treasuries.'" 5 "By your great wisdom and careful trading you have increased your wealth so that your heart is lifted up." 6 Therefore the LORD says, "Because you have considered yourself to be like God," 7 "therefore, I will bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations, to draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and they will defile your splendor." 8 "You will be brought down to the pit and die in the heart of the seas." 9 "In the presence of your slayer, will you think of yourself as a god, even after you have been wounded?" 10 The LORD says, "Strangers will cause you to die the death of the uncircumsized."

11 Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, 12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD GOD, you had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.'."

COMMENT: These word are understood to apply to Lucifer who became Satan.

13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, The ruby, the topaz and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, the emerald and the gold. The workmanship of your vocal chords was perfect even as you were created." 14 "I made you to be the anointed cherub who covers on the holy mountain of God. You walked in the midst of the stones of fire." 15 "When you were created you were without blame until unrighteousness was found in you." 16 "Then you continued to cling to your unholy ideas, which became widespread in others until you were filled with violence, and thus you sinned. So I expelled you in disgrace from the mount of God, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones." 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor, so I cast you to the ground in the presence of kings, that they might observe what you had become." 18 "By your many sins and dishonest trade you desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out of your midst, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who watched."

COMMENT: This will be Satan's sure and final end. He will become ashes under the feet of the saved. This will take place after the thousand years described in Revelation 20.

19 "Everyone who knew you was appalled to see what you had become. And so, you will cease to be forever."

COMMENT: Satan will be no more.

A Prophecy Against Sidon
20 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 21 "Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her." 22 Say, "The the LORD GOD says, 'Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her. I will manifest My holiness in her.'." 23 "I will send a plague upon her and blood will flow in her streets. The sword will cause people to fall within her. Then they will know that I am the LORD." 24 "Sidon will no more be a prickling and painful brier for the house of Israel. Then they will know that I am the LORD God." 25 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will manifest My holiness through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live again in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob." 26 "They will live securely, build houses and plant vineyards, when I execute judgments on all those who scorned them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God."

Ezekiel 29 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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A Prophecy Against Egypt
1 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt. Prophesy against him and against all of Egypt." 3 "Say thus says the LORD God, 'I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies within the Nile, claiming it as his own and that he made it.'." 4 "I will put hooks in your jaws and bring you up out of the midst of your rivers. All the fish of the rivers will cling to you." 5 "Then I will abandon you and your fish to the wilderness where you will fall in an open field. I will give you for food to the beasts of the earth and birds of the sky." 6 "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. You have been a staff made from a reed for the house of Israel." 7 "When they took hold of you, you broke away and tore their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and made their backs quiver."

COMMENT: Israel's dependance on Egypt proved to be a mistake.

8 "Therefore thus says the LORD GOD, 'I will bring upon you a sword and cut you off from man and beast." 9 "The land of Egypt will become a desolate waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. I will do this because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I have made it.'."

COMMENT: This sounds like Nebuchadnezzar's boast.

10 "For this reason I am against you and your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt a desolate waste land, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of Ethiopia." 11 "Neither man or beast will walk through it for forty years." 12 "So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities will be desolate for forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations." 13 "But the LORD says, 'At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the places they have been scattered.'" 14 "I will turn their fortunes so that they return to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom," 15 "one of the lowest of the kingdoms to never lift itself above other nations." 16 "Israel will never again place her confidence in Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD God."

17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty seventh year, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre. Though they worked themselves to the bone, they had no wages for their labor against Tyre." 19 "So the LORD says, 'I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will capture her spoil and carry off her wealth. This will be wages for his army.'." 20 "I have given him the land of Egypt as wages because he acted in My behalf, " says the LORD GOD. 21 "On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth in the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 30 - RWB Paraphrase (26 V)
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Egypt Faces Doom
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy, thus says the LORD God, 'Wail!'" 3 "For the day of the LORD is near. It will be a day of clouds and a time of doom for the nations." 4 "A sword will come upon Egypt and Ethiopia will be in anguish. The slain will fall in Egypt as her wealth is taken away and her very foundations are torn down." 5 "Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land in league with her will also fall by the sword." 6 "The LORD says, 'Those who support Egypt will fall as the pride of her power comes down. They will fall by the sword from Migdol to Syene.'" 7 "They will be desolate in the midst of desolated lands, and her cities will be devastated." 8 "They will know that I am the LORD when I set a fire in Egypt and all those who help her are broken." 9 "On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Ethiopia out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt's doom." 10 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'I will make the hordes of Egypt cease to be by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.'" 11 "He along with the most ruthless of the nations will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain." 12 "And I will make the Nile canals dry and sell the land into the hands of evil men. I will make the land desolate by the hand of strangers. I the LORD have spoken." 13 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'I will destroy their idols and make the images cease to be in Memphis. There will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt. I will put fear in the land of Egypt.'" 14 "I will make Pathros desolate and set a fire in Zoan, executing judgment on Thebes." 15 "I will pour my fury upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, and I will cut off the multitude of Thebes." 16 "I will set a fire in Egypt. Sin will writhe in anguish. Thebes will be taken by storm and Memphis will have distresses every day." 17 "The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword, and the women will go into captivity." 18 "It will be a dark day at Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Egypt. Her proud strength will come to an end. A cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity." 19 "Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt, and they will know that I am the LORD."

20 On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year the word of the LORD came to me saying, 21 "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up or wrapped with a bandage, so that it will be able to hold a sword." 22 "For the LORD GOD says, 'Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, making the sword fall from his hand." 23 "I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations." 24 "I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand. I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan with the groanings of a wounded man." 25 "I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he uses it against Egypt." 26 "When I scatter the Egyptians, dispersing them among the nations, then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 31 - RWB Paraphrase (18 V)
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Egypt's Pride
1 In the third month of the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his people, 'To whom are you like in your greatness?'" 3 "Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and much shade. It stood very high with its top among the clouds." 4 "It had plenty of water and grew very well." 5 "It was loftier than all the other trees." 6 "The birds of heaven nested in it, and under its branches the beasts of the field bore their young. All great nations existed in its shadow."

COMMENT: This is similar to Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Most great nations in history have mistakenly thought that their power was of their own making and never considered that the God of heaven had any thing to do with it.

Daniel 4:10-12 "As I lay on my bed I saw a tree of great height in the midst of the earth." [11] "It was large and strong, and it reached to the sky and was visible to the whole earth." [12] "It was covered with leaves and fruit, enough for everyone who wanted to eat from it. The beasts of the field enjoyed its shade and the birds lived in its branches. All creatures fed from it."

7 "Its beauty and greatness were a result of its roots extending to much water." 8 "Even the cedars in God's garden could not surpass it. No tree could match its magnificence and beauty." 9 "I made it beautiful and all the trees of Eden were jealous."

10 "So the LORD says, 'Because of its great stature having its branches in the clouds, its heart is haughty.'" 11 "So I gave it into the hands of a despot nation that will thoroughly deal with it. I am allowing this because of its wickedness." 12 "The most ruthless of foreign nations will cut it down and its boughs will fall on the mountains and in the valleys. Its branches will lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth will come out from under its shade."

COMMENT: Coming out from under its shade means they ceased to depend on it.

13 "All the birds will dwell on its ruins and the beasts will trample on its fallen branches." 14 "For this reason the other trees growing by the waters must never tower proudly, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other well watered trees will grow so tall. They are all destined for death with those who go down to the pit." 15 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused Lamentations. I closed the deep over it and its many waters were dried up. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it." 16 "I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to the pit. And all the well watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted by this." 17 "Those who lived in its shade, its allies among the nations, went to the grave with it, joining those killed by the sword." 18 "Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword. This will happen to Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the LORD GOD."

Ezekiel 32 - RWB Paraphrase (32 V)
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All Of Israel's Enemies Will Perish
1 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, 'You compared yourself to a young lion among the nations, but you are like a monster in the seas. You burst forth in your rivers and muddied the waters with your feet, fouling the rivers.'" 3 Thus says the LORD GOD, "Now I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, and they shall lift you up in My net." 4 "I will leave you on land in the open field, and cause all the birds of the heavens and beasts of the whole earth to satisfy themselves on your flesh." 5 "I will lay you out on the mountains and fill the valleys with your refuse." 6 "I will cause the land to drink your blood wherever it flows." 7 "When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken the stars and cover the sun with a cloud. The moon will not give its light." 8 "I will set darkness over your land as I darken all the shining lights in the heavens, " declares the LORD GOD. 9 "I will cause the hearts of many peoples to be troubled as they witness your destruction, many of whom you have never heard of." 10 "They and their kings will be amazed at the horrible things I will do to you when I raise My sword. They will even tremble for their own lives." 11 "For the LORD will send the sword of Babylon upon you." 12 "I will cause your own multitudes to fall. The pride of Egypt will be devastated." 13 "I will also destroy your cattle beside many waters, and the foot of neither man or beast will muddy them." 14 "Then I will make their waters settle and cause their rivers to run smooth again," declares the LORD GOD. 15 "When I make the land of Egypt a desolation, and the land is destitute of that which had once filled it, when I smite all those who live in it, then they shall know that I am the LORD." 16 "This is a lamentation and they shall chant over Egypt and all her hordes," declares the LORD GOD.

17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18 "Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and the daughters of the powerful nations. Bring it down to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit," 19 "saying to them, 'Are you more favored than others? Go down to be laid among the uncircumcised.'" 20 "Fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn, that she may be dragged off with all her hordes." 21 "From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, 'They now lie with the uncircumcised killed by the sword.'"

Assyria Is Included With Egypt
22 "Assyria is there and all her company. Around her are the graves of those fallen by the sword." 23 "Their graves are in the remotest part of the pit. Those who have spread terror in the land have fallen by the sword."

Elam Is Also Included
24 "Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave, all of them slain having fallen by the sword. They have gone down with the uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth. They instilled terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit." 25 "A bed is made for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it. They are all uncircumcised and slain by the sword. They bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit in the midst of the slain." 26 "Meshech, Tubal and all their hordes are there, their graves surround them. All of them were slain, though they instilled terror in the land of the living." 27 "They lie by the other uncircumcised warriors who have fallen, having gone to their graves with their weapons of war. The punishment for their sins rested on these warriors who stalked through the land of the living." 28 "But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword."

29 "Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, despite their power. They lie with those killed by the sword, with the uncircumcised who go down to the pit."

30 "All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there. They are slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit."

31 "Pharaoh and all his army will see them and be comforted along with all his hordes who were killed by the sword, " declares the LORD GOD. 32 "Although I used them to spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, " declares the LORD GOD.

Ezekiel 33 - RWB Paraphrase (33 V)
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Restoring The People Of God
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people saying, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,'" 3 "And he sounds the trumpet warning them of the sword coming upon the land," 4 "and if the one who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and is killed by a sword, he has no one to blame but himself." 5 "He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning. Had he taken warning, he would have been delivered." 6 "But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and warn the people, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require of the watchman."

7 "As for you, son of man, I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Israel, so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them My warning." 8 "When I say to the wicked that he will surely die, if you do not warn the wicked of his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand." 9 "But if you warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, and you will not be held accountable."

10 "Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'You think that your transgressions are surely upon you and you are rotting away in them. You wonder how you can survive?'" 11 "Tell them that the LORD God says that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Rather let the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn from your evil ways, O house of Israel! Why will you die?"

12 "And you, son of man, say to your people, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness. However, a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'" 13 "When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he begins trusting in his righteousness while committing iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered, for he will die because of his iniquity."

COMMENT: No matter how good a person has been, if he then sins, he will die for that unforgiven sin.

14 "But when I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness," 15 "restoring a pledge, paying back what he has taken by robbery, walking by the statutes which ensure life and no longer committing iniquity, he shall surely live." 16 "None of his former sins will be held against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness, and he shall surely live." 17 "Yet your people say, 'The way of the LORD is not just,' when in fact it is their way that is not right." 18 "If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it." 19 "And if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so." 20 "Yet, O house of Israel, you say, 'The way of the LORD is not just.' But I will judge each of you according to his own ways."

21 Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city has been taken." 22 The previous evening, the hand of the LORD was upon me. He opened my mouth before the man came to me, so I was no longer silent. 23 Then the LORD said to me, 24 "son of man, the people living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. We are many. Surely the land has been given to us as our possession.'" 25 "Tell them the LORD GOD says, 'You eat meat with the blood in it and look to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?" 26 "You rely on your sword, commit abominations and defile your neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?" 27 "Tell them that the LORD GOD says to them, 'As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured. Those in the strongholds and caves will die of pestilence.'" 28 "I will make the land a desolate waste place. The pride of her power will cease, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one passes through." 29 "Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste place because of all the abominations they have committed."

30 "But as for you, son of man, your people talk together about you. They say, 'Come and hear the message from the LORD.'." 31 "Though they come to hear what you say, they do not follow My words. They continue in their lustful ways going after gain." 32 "They act as though they appreciate what you say but they do not practice what you have said." 33 "So when your words come to pass, as they surely will, the people will know that a prophet has been among them."

Ezekiel 34 - RWB Paraphrase (31 V)
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Israel Is God's Flock
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Tell them the LORD says, 'Woe to those who are shepherds and feed themselves instead of the flock.'" 3 "They eat the fat and cloth themselves with wool. They slaughter the flock instead of feeding them." 4 "They have not strengthened the sick and feeble. They have not bound up their broken bones or looked for the lost. Instead they have dominated them with severity." 5 "The flock is scattered for lack of a shepherd and has become food for every beast of the field." 6 "My flock has wandered throughout the mountains and become scattered over the face of the earth. No one is looking after them." 7 "Therefore hear what the LORD says to you:" 8 "as I live," declares the LORD GOD, "Because My flock has become a prey, even food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but instead fed themselves." 9 "Therefore, the LORD says," 10 "behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. Neither will they feed themselves anymore. I will deliver My flock from them so that there will be no food for them." 11 "I Myself will search for My sheep." 12 "I will care for My sheep and deliver them from the places where they were scattered on a gloomy day."

COMMENT: It would seem that God is saying that Israel went astray because of lack of inspired leadership. How often this might well be the case today. Leaders do not wish to be unpopular with the people. Many times as leaders we are not converted.

13 "I will bring them back from the countries where they were scattered. They will be brought back to their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land." 14 "I will give them good pasture to graze in and a place where they may lie down." 15 "I will feed My flock and lead them to rest," declares the LORD GOD. 16 "I will seek the lost and bring back the scattered, binding up the broken and strengthening the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy and feed with judgment."

17 "As for you, my flock, thus says the LORD GOD, 'Behold, I will judge the sheep, the rams and the male goats.'." 18 "Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy with you feet what you do not need?" 19 "My flock has had to eat what you have walked on and drunk the water you have fouled." 20 "Therefore, I will judge between you and those you were to care for." 21 "Because you pushed the weaker aside, scattering them," 22 "I will deliver My flock that they may no longer be prey." 23 "I will set one shepherd over them. He will be like My servant David. He will be their shepherd and feed them." 24 "And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken." 25 "I will make a covenant of peace with them, eliminating harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." 26 "I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will cause showers of blessing to come down in their season." 27 "And the trees of the field will yield their fruit and the earth will yield its increase. They will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken their yoke and delivered them from those who enslaved them." 28 "They will no longer be a prey of the nations. The beasts of the earth will not devour them, and they will live securely with no one to make them afraid." 29 I will provide them with a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine or bear the insults of the nations. 30 "Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they are My people." 31 "You are the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, " declares the LORD GOD.

Ezekiel 35 - RWB Paraphrase (15 V)
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Edom Will Be Wiped Out
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against Mount Seir." 3 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand to make you a desolation and a waste.'." 4 "I will lay waste your cities and you will know that I am the LORD." 5 "Because of your continued hostility toward Israel, delivering them to the calamity of the sword, bringing their punishment to its climax," 6 "as I live, " declares the LORD GOD, "I will give you over to bloodshed which shall pursue you." 7 "I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste, cutting it off from it all outside commerce," 8 "filling its mountains with its slain. Men will fall by the sword on all your hills, in your valleys and in all your ravines." 9 "You will be an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD." 10 "You thought you would possess the land of Israel and Judah, even though they belonged to the LORD." 11 "Therefore, I the LORD God will deal with you according to your anger and envy because of your hatred against them. For this reason I will make Myself known among them when I judge you." 12 "Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard all your revilings against Israel when you thought you would have what is theirs as spoil." 13 "In doing this you have spoken arrogantly, and I have heard your words against Me." 14 "Thus says the LORD GOD, 'I will make you a desolation while the earth rejoices.'." 15 "As you rejoiced over Israel's demise, so I will do to you. Mount Seir and all of Edom will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 36 - RWB Paraphrase (38 V)
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God Promises That Good Times Will Return
1 "Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, 'O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.'" 2 "The LORD God says, 'Because the enemy has claimed the everlasting heights as their possession,'" 3 "Say to them, 'The LORD God says He will make you desolate for good reason. You will be crushed from every side and become a possession of the rest of the nations.'." 4 "Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD GOD. The LORD GOD says," 5 "in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with much joy and scorn." 6 "Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and wrath, causing you to endure the insults of the nations." 7 "For this reason I have sworn that the nations around you will themselves endure their insults." 8 "But you, O mountains of Israel, will put forth your branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon return." 9 "Behold, I am for you, and you will again be cultivated and sown." 10 "I will multiply men upon you and the cities of Israel will be rebuilt and inhabited." 11 "Man and beast will be fruitful, even more than in former times. By this you will know that I am the LORD." 12 "This land will be possessed by My people Israel and never again bereaved of their children."

13 "The LORD God says to Israel, 'Some say that your men have been devoured and the nation is bereaved of her children." 14 "But this will no longer be the case." 15 "The LORD God will no longer allow you to be insulted. Neither will Israel stumble any more."

16 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 17 "Son of man, the house of Israel defiled their own land. Their ways and deeds were to Me like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity." 18 "For this reason I poured out My wrath on them because of the blood they had shed and because of their idols." 19 "So I judged them according to their deeds and scattered them among the nations." 20 "Even in the places where I scattered them they profaned My holy name. Everyone is saying, 'These people were kicked out of their land by the LORD.'" 21 "I had concern for My holy name which Israel profaned wherever they were." 22 "So explain to this people that I am about to act in behalf of My holy name which they have profaned." 23 "I will vindicate the holiness of My great name. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD GOD." 24 "For I will take you from the nations, gathering you from all the lands, to bring you into your own land." 25 "I will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and your idols." 26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will replace your heart of stone with a heart of flesh." 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." 28 "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers. You will be My people, and I will be your God." 29 "I will rescue you from all your uncleanness, and cause the grain to multiply. And I will not allow another famine to come upon you." 30 "I will multiply the trees as well as the produce in the field. You will no longer be disgraced by famine." 31 "Then you will remember the evil things you did and loath yourselves for your iniquity." 32 "Let it be known that I am not doing this because of anything you have done to deserve it, O house of Israel."

33 "The LORD says, 'After I cleanse you from your iniquity, I will cause the cities to be rebuilt and inhabited.'." 34 "The desolate land will be once again cultivated for everyone who passes by to admire." 35 "They will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden. The ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.'" 36 "Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruined places and restored that which was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken and I will do this." 37 "When Israel asks Me, I will restore them like a flock." 38 "Like the flock for sacrifices at Jerusalem at the appointed feasts, just so the wasted cities will be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 37 - RWB Paraphrase (28 V)
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Valley Of Dry Bones
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me as He brought me out by His Spirit and set me in the midst of a valley full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass between them. There were many very dry bones. 3 He asked me, "Can these bones come to life?" I answered, "O LORD God, You know."

4 Then He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, saying, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'" 5 "The LORD God says that He will cause you to come to life. You will have breath and live again." 6 "He says that He will cause sinew and flesh to grow on you. He will cover you with skin and make you alive. Then you will know that He is the LORD."

7 So I prophesied as He had commanded, and there was a rattling as the bones came together. 8 As I looked, sinews came on the bones, and flesh and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them yet. 9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy concerning the breath, son of man, saying to the breath, 'The LORD GOD says to come from the four winds, and breathe on these that have been slain, that they may live again.'" 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath entered them. They came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast army. 11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They have said, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'" 12 "Therefore prophesy to them, saying, 'The LORD GOD says that He will open your graves and cause you to live again. He has said that He will bring His people into Israel once more." 13 "Then you will know that He is the LORD because He has opened your graves and caused you to come up out of them. He will call you His people." 14 "The LORD declares that He will put His Spirit within you. You will live again and inhabit your own land. Then you will know that the LORD has spoken when He has done this thing."

15 The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 16 "Son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah and the children of Israel.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel.'" 17 "Then hold them as one stick in your hand." 18 "When the children of your people ask you the meaning of this," 19 "tell them that the LORD says He will make Ephraim and Judah one people in His hand."

COMMENT: Since Rehoboam Israel had split off from Judah. The time would come when they would once more be one nation.

20 "They will watch as you hold both sticks which you have written on." 21 "Tell them that the LORD God says, 'He will gather the children of Israel from among the nations and bring them to their own land.'" 22 "He will make them one nation in the land of Israel. They will have one king for all of them, for they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms." 23 "And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or any of the other detestable things. He will deliver them from all their dwellings where they have sinned and they will be cleansed. They will be His people and He will be their God."

24 "My servant David will be king over them. They will all have one shepherd, walking in My ordinances and keeping My statutes." 25 "They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which their fathers lived. They and their sons, and their sons' sons, will live on it forever. And David My servant will be their prince forever." 26 I will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 "My dwelling place will be with them, and I will be their God. And they shall be My people." 28 "When My sanctuary is in their midst the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel forever."

Ezekiel 38 - RWB Paraphrase (23 V)
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A Prophecy Against Gog
1 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him." 3 "Say, This is what the Sovereign LORD says, 'I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.'" 4 "I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army, your horses, your horsemen fully armed, with a great multitude having large and small shields, and swords." 5 "Persia, Ethiopia and Put will be with them, all of them with their shields and helmets." 6 "Also Gomer with all its troops, the house of Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops. All the many peoples who are with you." 7 "Prepare yourself, and all your companies that are assembled about you. Be on your guard."

8 "In the latter years you will be summoned to the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They will have been brought back to dwell safely in the land of Israel." 9 "You will go up like a storm, like a cloud covering the land, with all your troops, and many peoples with you." 10 "The LORD God says, 'In that day you will devise an evil plan.'." 11 "You will go up against this land with unwalled villages, determined to go against those who are at rest, living securely with no bars or gates." 12 "You will intend to capture much spoil and plunder from this people who were gathered from the nations and acquired much cattle and goods because they live at the crossroads of the world."

13 "Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish, along with all of its villages, will wonder if you have come to capture their silver, gold, cattle and other goods?"

14 "So you are to prophesy, son of man, and tell them that the LORD God says, 'You will know when My people are living securely.'." 15 "You will come with many other people from the remote places in the north. You will be part of a mighty army riding on horses," 16 "and you will cover the land like a cloud when you come against My people Israel. In the last days I will bring you against My land. Then, O Gog, the nations will know that I am sanctified in what I do to you."

17 "The LORD God says, 'Are you not the one my servants the prophets of Israel spoke of in former days? Did I not prophesy that I would bring you against them?'" 18 "The LORD God says, 'In the day that you come against the land of Israel, My fury will mount up against you.'." 19 "The zeal of My blazing wrath will be like a mighty earthquake in the land of Israel." 20 "The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creeping thing, and all men on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down. Steep pathways will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground."

COMMENT: This sounds like the second coming of Jesus.

21 "I will cause such confusion, " declares the LORD God, "That every man's sword will be against his brother." 22 "With pestilence and blood, I will bring judgment upon you and send a torrential rain of hail, fire and brimstone."

COMMENT: This sounds like one of the last plagues at the end of time.

23 "I will magnify and sanctify Myself as I make Myself known in the sight of many nations. They will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 39 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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God's Holiness Will Be Vindicated
1 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'Thus says the LORD GOD, behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal,'" 2 "I will cause most of your army to die in the mountains of Israel." 3 "I will dash the bow and arrows from your hands." 4 "You and all your troops will fall on the mountains of Israel. You will become food for every scavenger." 5 "You will fall in the open field, for I the LORD God have spoken." 6 "I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the LORD." 7 "My people will know My holy name. I will not let it be profaned anymore. All the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel."

8 "Behold, the day I have spoken of will arrive," declares the LORD. 9 "Those who inhabit Israel shall go out and build fires using the confiscated bows, arrows, war clubs and spears. These weapons will be burned for seven years." 10 "They will not need to take wood from the fields or forests for their fires. They will seize much plunder from their enemies," declares the LORD God.

11 "On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel. It will be in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. Travelers hold their noses because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be known as the Valley of Hamongog." 12 "It will take seven months for Israel to bury them that the land may be cleansed." 13 "Everyone in the land will bury them. The day I am glorified will be a memorable day," declares the LORD God. 14 "Men will be employed to go throughout the land to bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will make a search." 15 "Anyone who sees a man's bones as he travels through the land will set up a marker for the burial detail to see that they may come to bury the bones in the valley of Hamongog." 16 "A town called Hamonah will be there. The land will be cleansed."

17 "As for you, son of man, thus says the LORD, 'Call for every kind of bird to gather from every side to My great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, to eat flesh and drink blood.'" 18 "They will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of princes. These will be sacrificed like rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them like fattened animals from Bashan." 19 "The birds will eat until they are glutted and become drunk on the blood." 20 "They will be glutted at My table on horses, charioteers, mighty men and all the men of war," declares the LORD God.

21 "I will be glorified among the nations as they see the judgment I have executed against them." 22 "From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God." 23 "The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile because of their iniquity when they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them. So I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell by the sword." 24 "I dealt with them according to their transgression by hiding My face from them."

25 Therefore the LORD GOD says, "Now I will bring Jacob back from captivity and have compassion on the whole house of Israel. And I will be jealous for My holy name." 26 "My people will forget their disgrace and treachery against Me as they dwell securely in their own land." 27 "When I bring them back from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations." 28 "They will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into captivity away from their own land. But I could not leave them in captivity. So I gathered them back to their own land." 29 "And I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the LORD God.

Ezekiel 40 - RWB Paraphrase (49 V)
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Restoring The Worship Of God
1 At the beginning of our twenty fifth year of exile, on the tenth day, it had been fourteen years since Jerusalem was taken. On that day the LORD's hand was upon me. 2 He brought me in vision to a high mountain in the land of Israel. To the south I could see the buildings of a city. 3 A man with a bronze like appearance stood at the gateway holding a line and a measuring rod. 4 The man said, "Son of man, watch and listen. Give careful attention to everything I am about to show you. Then relate what you have seen to the house of Israel."

5 There was a wall around the outside of the temple. The rod in the man's hand was a little over nine feet. With it he measured the thickness the wall. It was one rod high and one rod wide. 6 He went up the steps of the east gate and measured the threshold. It was one rod wide, the same as the other threshold. 7 The guardroom was a rod long and a rod wide. There were seven and a half feet between the guardrooms. The threshold of the gate by the porch was also one rod.

8 Then he measured the porch of the gate facing in, one rod. 9 He measured the porch of the gate, 12 feet inward, with its pillars, three and a half feet thick. And the porch of the gate faced inward. 10 There were three guardrooms on each side. They all had the same measurements and their side pillars were identical. 11 The width of the gateway was fifteen feet and its length was almost twenty feet.

12 In front of each guardroom was a wall one and a half feet high. The guardrooms were nine feet square. 13 He measured the gate from the roof of one guardroom to the roof of the next. It was a distance of thirty seven and a half feet from door to door. 14 The side pillars were ninety feet high. The gate extended to the side pillars of the courtyard. 15 It was seventy five feet from the entrance gate to the front of the inner porch. 16 Shuttered windows looked toward the guardrooms and all around the inside. Each pillar was decorated with palm trees.

17 Then he brought me to the outer court where there were thirty chambers facing the pavement. 18 This lower pavement went from gate to gate. 19 He measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court. It was a hundred and fifty feet on the east and the north side.

20 He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court. 21 It had three guardrooms on each side, and its side pillars and its porches had the same measurement as the first gate. It was seventy five feet long and thirty seven and a half feet wide. 22 Its windows, porches and palm tree ornaments had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east, and it was reached by seven steps. It had a porch in front. 23 The inner court had another gate opposite the north gate as well as another gate on the east. It was one hundred and fifty feet from gate to gate.

24 He led me toward the gate on the south. It had the same measurements. 25 Its porch had windows like the other windows. It too was seventy five feet long and thirty seven and a half feet wide. 26 Seven steps led up to it. It had a porch with pillars on each side decorated with palm tree ornaments. 27 The inner court had a gate on the south. From gate to gate on the south was one hundred and fifty feet.

28 He brought me to the south gate. It had all the same measurements. 29 Its guardrooms, side pillars, porches and windows all had the same measurements. It was seventy five feet long and thirty seven and a half feet wide. 30 Porches surrounded it, each being thirty seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide. 31 Its porches were at the side of the outer court. Palm tree ornaments were on its side pillars and its stairway had eight steps. 32 He brought me into the inner court on the east. It had the same measurements. 33 Its guardrooms, side pillars, porches and windows had the same measurements. It was seventy five feet long and thirty seven and a half feet wide. 34 Its porches were at the side of the outer court. Palm tree ornaments were on its side pillars and its stairway had eight steps.

35 The man then brought me to the north gate. It too had the same measurements. 36 Its guardrooms, side pillars, porches and windows had the same measurements. It was seventy five feet long and thirty seven and a half feet wide. 37 Its porches were on the side of the outer court. Palm tree ornaments were on its side pillars and its stairway had eight steps.

38 There was a doorway to a chamber. It was beside the pillars at the gates where the burnt offering was rinsed. 39 In the porch of the gate there were two tables on each side on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. 40 On the outer side, as one went up to the gateway toward the north, were two tables, and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables. 41 Four tables were on each side next to the gate. So there were eight tables on which to slaughter sacrifices. 42 For the burnt offering there were four tables of hewn stone measuring two and a quarter feet square. They were one and one half feet high and were where the utensils were laid for the slaughter of the burnt offering and other sacrifices. 43 Six inch double hooks were installed all around. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.

44 Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two rooms for the singers, one at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the south gate facing north. 45 He said to me, "The room facing south is for the priests who have charge of the temple," 46 "and the room facing north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the LORD to minister before him."

47 He measured the court. It was a perfect square, one hundred and fifty feet long and wide. And the alter was in front of the temple. 48 He brought me to the porch of the temple. Each side pillar measured seven and a half feet wide. The gate was four and a half feet on each side. 49 The porch was thirty feet long and sixteen and a half feet wide. There were columns at the end of each step going up to the porch.

Ezekiel 41 - RWB Paraphrase (26 V)
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The Holy Of Holies
1 He brought me to the temple and measured the side pillars. Each was nine feet wide. 2 The entrance was fifteen feet wide and its sides were seven and one half feet. Its length was sixty feet and its width was thirty feet. 3 Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the pillars at the entrance. Each was three and a half feet wide. The entrance was nine feet wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were ten and a half feet wide. 4 He said, "This inner part of the sanctuary is the Most Holy place." It was thirty feet long and thirty feet wide.

5 He measured the wall of the temple which was nine feet thick. The side chambers were all six feet wide. 6 The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, with thirty on each level. Ledges extended all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, for they did not rest on the temple wall.

7 The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive level. Because the structure surrounding the temple went upward by stages on all sides, the width of the temple increased at each level. To get to the highest level one had to pass through the second level.

8 I saw that the house had a raised platform all around it that was nine feet high. 9 The outer wall of the side chambers was seven and a half feet thick. The space between the chambers was part of the temple area. 10 The outer chambers were thirty feet wide and were all around the temple. 11 The side chambers had doorways to the north and the south. There was a seven and a half foot area of free space all around. 12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was one hundred and five feet wide. The wall around of the building was seven and a half feet thick, and one hundred and thirty five feet long.

13 He measured the temple. It was an hundred and fifty feet long. The additional area with the buildings and walls was another one hundred and fifty feet. 14 The width of the temple and the separate areas was one hundred and fifty feet. 15 He measured the front of the building and of the separate area behind it that had a gallery on each side. It was one hundred and fifty feet. And he measured the inner temple and the porches of the court. 16 He measured the thresholds, the latticed windows and the galleries round � about their three stories opposite the threshold. These were paneled with � wood from the ground up to the windows which were covered. 17 He continued to measure over the entrance, inside and out, and on the wall inside and out. 18 There were carved cherubim and palm trees. There was a palm tree between each cherub and every cherub had two faces. 19 Each had a man's face facing one of the palm trees and a young lion's face facing the other palm tree. These carvings continued on the wall all around the house. 20 Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the temple from the ground to above the entrance.

21 The temple door posts were square and identical. 22 The alter was made of wood. It was four and a half feet high and three feet long. He told me that this was the table that is before the LORD. 23 Both the outer sanctuary and the Most Holy Place had double doors. 24 Each of the doors had two folding panels. 25 The doors had carvings of cherubs and palm trees like those carved on the walls. There was a threshold of wood leading to the porch. 26 There were latticed windows and palm trees on each side of the porch. The side chambers had canopies.

Ezekiel 42 - RWB Paraphrase (20 V)
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Rooms For The Priests
1 He brought me to the outer courtyard on the north, to the chamber opposite the temple courtyard and the building to the north. 2 The building whose door faced north was a hundred and fifty feet long and seventy five feet wide. 3 Adjoining the thirty feet belonging to the inner court, and facing the pavement belonging to the outer court, was a gallery in three levels. 4 In front of the rooms was an inner passageway fifteen feet wide and a hundred and fifty feet long. Their doors faced north.