-Ezekiel-

"And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month…of king Jehoiachin’s captivity…as I, Ezekiel, sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

"Then I looked, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his waist even downward, fire; and from his waist even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber.

"And the being brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. And he said unto me, ‘Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.’ So I went in and saw; and look every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.

"And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

"Then said the being unto me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, "The LORD sees us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth." ’ He said also unto me, ‘Turn…yet again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do.’

"Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, look, there sat women weeping for Tammuz*. Then said he unto me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn…yet again, and you shall see greater abominations than these.’

"And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, look, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

"Then he said unto me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they worship nature.

"Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.’

"And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

"Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ‘Therefore say, this says the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.’

"The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying, ‘Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. The soul that sins, it shall die…the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

"But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be remembered….

"But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered…in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.

"Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord GOD: Therefore turn yourselves, and live….

"Furthermore the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ‘Now, …son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, you shall show her all her abominations. Look, the princes of Israel, everyone were in you to their power to shed blood. In you have they contemptuously treated father and mother: in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in you have they oppressed the fatherless and the widow.

"You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my sabbaths. In you are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in you they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of you they commit lewdness.

"…One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

"In you have they taken gifts to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD.

"Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you. "Her princes in the midst of you are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.’

"Furthermore the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ‘Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a menstruating woman. And when they entered unto the heathen, wherever they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, "These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land."

" ‘But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, wherever they went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

" ‘For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

" ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. And you shall live in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

" ‘Not for your sakes do I this, says the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

" ‘…I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they sinned against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.’"

-Jeremiah-

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD…. "This says the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sits upon the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people that enter in by these gates.

" ‘This says the LORD; Execute…judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

" ‘For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

" ‘Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore this says the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; you have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: look, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, says the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

" ‘And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, says the LORD.

" ‘Look, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall live safely: and this is his name by which he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.’ "

And Zedekiah did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities there, saying, "This says the LORD, the God of Israel; ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him…look, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: And you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.’ "

*A Babylonian fertility god. In Babylonian mythology Tammuz died year by year and was reborn annually representing the yearly cycle of the seasons and crops.

REFERENCES

Ezekiel 8:1a; Ezekiel 1:2b; Ezekiel 8:1b, 2, 7, 9-18; Ezekiel 11:13-14, 16; Ezekiel 12:1-2; Ezekiel 18:30a; Ezekiel 18:20-22a,24; 30b-32; Ezekiel 22:1-2, 6-9, 11-12, 14-15, 27; Ezekiel 36:16-17, 20-21, 23-28, 32; Ezekiel 39:21-23; Jeremiah 21:1a; 22:1-5; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Jeremiah 24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:12; Jeremiah 34:1-3.

CHAPTER 54