Study Desk

'They have blown the trumpet and have made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude [of people].

'Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each over his [punishment for] sin.

'They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will be [discarded] like something unclean; their silver and their gold shall not be able to save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. These [things] cannot satisfy their soul nor fill their stomachs, for they have become their stumbling block and source of sin.

'As for the beauty of [gold for] ornaments, they turned it to pride and from it made the images of their repulsive things (idols) and of their vile things. Therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them.

'Prepare the chain [for imprisonment], for the land is full of bloody crimes [murders committed under the pretense of civil justice] and the city is full of violence.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his [secret] room of carved images? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has abandoned the land.'"

Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the LORD'S house; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the repulsive acts which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me to anger? And behold, they are putting the branch to their nose.

Then He said to me, "The wickedness (guilt) of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of blood and the city is full of perversion and injustice; for they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land; the LORD does not see [what we are doing].'

"But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare, but I will bring their [wicked] conduct upon their [own] heads."

As for their appearance, all four looked alike, as if one wheel were within another wheel.

When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose upward, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in these [wheels].

As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one went straight forward.

Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, "Say, 'Thus says the LORD, "This is what you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.

"This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat [safe] in it, but I will judge you at the border of Israel.

"And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you."'"

"Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Though I had removed Israel far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries to which they had gone."'

"But as for those whose heart longs for and follows after their detestable things and their repulsive things [associated with idolatry], on their own head I will repay [them in full for] their [vile] conduct," says the Lord GOD.

"Son of man, you live among a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious people.

"Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for exile, and move into exile during the day when they will see you; even go into exile from your place to another place as they watch. Perhaps they will understand even though they are a rebellious people.