Study Desk

"Human, the Lord God says this to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come on the four corners of the land.

"This is what the Lord God says: Disaster on top of disaster is coming.

Disaster will come on top of disaster, and rumor will be added to rumor. Then they will try to get a vision from a prophet; the teachings of God from the priest and the advice from the elders will be lost.

It was the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month of our captivity. I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah in front of me. There I felt the power of the Lord God .

It stretched out the shape of a hand and caught me by the hair on my head. The Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the sky. He took me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple. In the courtyard was the idol that caused God to be jealous.

I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, as I had seen on the plain.

Then he said to me, "Human, now look toward the north." So I looked up toward the north, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar was the idol that caused God to be jealous.

Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the creatures with wings, where it had been, to the place in the Temple where the door opened. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing case at his side.

While the men were killing the people, I was left alone. I bowed facedown on the ground and I cried out, "Oh, Lord God ! Will you destroy everyone left alive in Israel when you turn loose your anger on Jerusalem?"

The sound of the wings of the living creatures was heard all the way to the outer courtyard. It was like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

As I watched, the living creatures spread their wings and flew up from the ground, with the wheels beside them. They stood where the east gate of the Temple of the Lord opened, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel by the Kebar River. I knew they were called cherubim.

"So this is what the Lord God says: Those people you have killed and left in the middle of the city are like the best meat, and this city is like the cooking pot. But I will force you out of the city.

You have feared the sword, but I will bring a sword against you, says the Lord God .

As I prophesied, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I bowed facedown on the ground and shouted with a loud voice, "Oh no, Lord God ! Will you completely destroy the Israelites who are left alive?"

"So say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I sent the people far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries. But for a little while I have become a Temple to them in the countries where they have gone.'

"So say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you together from the countries where you have been scattered. Then I will give you back the land of Israel.'

Then they will live by my rules and obey my laws and keep them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

But those who want to serve their evil statues and hateful idols, I will pay back for their evil ways, says the Lord God ."

Then the living creatures lifted their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.