Study Desk

You will repay them, LORD, In accordance with the work of their hands.

They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood, Such that no one could touch their garments.

"Keep away! Unclean!" they cried out of themselves. "Keep away, keep away, do not touch!" For they distanced themselves as well as wandered; People among the nations said, "They shall not continue to reside with us."

Our fathers sinned, and are gone; It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.

Unless You have utterly rejected us And are exceedingly angry with us.

As I looked, behold, a high wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing intermittently and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like gleaming metal in the midst of the fire.

As for their rims, they were high and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were covered with eyes all around.

Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.

Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you."

"And as for you, son of man, you are not to fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; you are not to fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, since they are a rebellious house.

And He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you." Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.

But the Spirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and He spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself inside your house.

"And as for you, son of man, they will put ropes around you and bind you with them so that you do not go out among them.

"Then you shall direct your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror,

because bread and water will be scarce; and they will tremble with one another and waste away in their guilt.

"A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'This is Jerusalem; I have placed her at the center of the nations, with lands around her.