Study Desk

The visions that you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You are wicked and evil, and your day is coming, the day of your final punishment. The sword is going to fall on your necks.

The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord , but I, the Lord , have not spoken to them.

Tell them to listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord , am saying: You were delighted to see my Temple profaned, to see the land of Israel devastated, to see the people of Judah go into exile.

You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes.

Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord , am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die?

The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken."

I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.

He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry.

"Hold in your hand the two sticks and let the people see them.

I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their security forever. I will establish them and increase their population, and will see to it that my Temple stands forever in their land.

The Lord said, "I will let the nations see my glory and show them how I use my power to carry out my just decisions.

He said to me, "Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see."

Then if they are ashamed of what they have done, explain the plan of the Temple to them: its design, its entrances and exits, its shape, the arrangement of everything, and all its rules and regulations. Write all this down for them so that they can see how everything is arranged and can carry out all the rules.

and the Lord said to me, "Mortal man, pay attention to everything you see and hear. I am going to tell you the rules and regulations for the Temple. Note carefully which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Temple, and which persons are not allowed.

At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind

"Then why do I see four men walking around in the fire?" he asked. "They are not tied up, and they show no sign of being hurt—and the fourth one looks like an angel."

You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honor the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do.

So they went to see the king and said, "King Darius, may Your Majesty live forever!

Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right.

I was the only one who saw the vision. Those who were with me did not see anything, but they were terrified and ran and hid.