6:25. And having not the use of feet they are carried upon shoulders, declaring to men how vile they are. Be they confounded also that worship them.
6:26. Therefore if they fall to the ground, they rise not up again of themselves, nor if a man set them upright, will they stand by themselves, but their gifts shall be set before them, as to the dead.
6:27. The things that are sacrificed to them, their priests sell and abuse: in like manner also their wives take part of them, but give nothing of it either to the sick, or to the poor.
6:28. The childbearing and menstruous women touch their sacrifices: knowing, therefore, by these things that they are not gods, fear them not.
6:29. For how can they be called gods? because women set offerings before the gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood:
6:30. And priests sit in their temples, having their garments rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.
6:31. And they roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.
6:32. The priests take away their garments, and clothe their wives and their children.
6:33. And whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: neither can they set up a king, nor put him down:
6:34. In like manner they can neither give riches, nor requite evil. If a man make a vow to them, and perform it not: they cannot require it.
6:35. They cannot deliver a man from death, nor save the weak from the mighty.
6:36. They cannot restore the blind man to his sight: nor deliver a man from distress.
36:7. They shall not pity the widow, nor do good to the fatherless.
6:38. Their gods, of wood, and of stone, and of gold, and of silver, are like the stones that are hewn out of the mountains: and they that worship them shall be confounded.
6:39. How then is it to be supposed, or to be said, that they are gods?
6:40. Even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them: who when they here of one dumb that cannot speak, they present him to Bel, entreating him, that he may speak.
6:41. As though they could be sensible that have no motion themselves: and they, when they shall perceive this, will leave them: for their gods themselves have no sense.
6:42. The women also, with cords about them, sit in the ways, burning olive-stones.
6:43. And when any one of them, drawn away by some passenger, lieth with him, she upbraideth her neighbor, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken.
6:44. But all things that are done about them, are false: how is it then to be thought, or to be said, that they are gods?
6:45. And they are made by workmen, and by goldsmiths. They shall be nothing else but what the priests will have them to be.
6:46. For the artificers themselves that make them, are of no long continuance. Can those things then that are made by them, be gods?
6:47. But they have left false things and reproach to them that come after.
6:48. For when war cometh upon them, or evils: the priests consult with themselves, where they may hide themselves with them.
6:49. How then can they be thought to be gods, that can neither deliver themselves from war, nor save themselves from evils?
6:50. For seeing they are but of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, it shall be known hereafter that they are false things, by all nations, and kings: and it shall be manifest that they are no gods, but the work of men's hands, and that there is no work of God in them.
6:51. Whence, therefore, is it known that they are not gods, but the work of men's hands, and no work of God is in them?
6:52. They cannot set up a king over the land, nor give rain to men.
6:53. They determine no causes, nor deliver countries from oppression: because they can do nothing, and are as daws between heaven and earth.
6:54. For when fire shall fall upon the house of these gods of wood, and of silver, and of gold, their priests indeed will flee away, and be saved: but they themselves shall be burnt in the midst like beams.
6:55. And they cannot withstand a king and war. How then can it be supposed, or admitted, that they are gods?
6:56. Neither are these gods of wood, and of stone, and laid over with gold, and with silver, able to deliver themselves from thieves or robbers: they that are stronger than them,
They that are stronger than them... That is, robbers and thieves are stronger than these idols, being things without life or motion.
6:57. Shall take from them the gold, and silver, and the raiment wherewith they are clothed, and shall go their way, neither shall they help themselves.
6:58. Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his power: or else a profitable vessel in the house, with which the owner thereof will be well satisfied: or a door in the house, to keep things safe that are therein, than such false gods.
6:59. The sun, and the moon, and the stars being bright, and sent forth for profitable uses, are obedient.
6:60. In like manner the lightning, when it breaketh forth, is easy to be seen: and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country.
6:61. And the clouds, when God commandeth them to go over the whole world, do that which is commanded them.
6:62. The fire also being sent from above to consume mountains, and woods, doth as it is commanded. But these neither in shew, nor in power, are alike to any one of them.
6:63. Wherefore it is neither to be thought, nor to be said, that they are gods: since they are neither able to judge causes, nor to do any good to men.
6:64. Knowing, therefore, that they are not gods, fear them not.
6:65. For neither can they curse kings, nor bless them.
6:66. Neither do they shew signs in the heaven to the nations, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.
6:67. Beasts are better than they, which can fly under a covert, and help themselves.
6:68. Therefore there is no manner of appearance that they are gods: so fear them not.
6:69. For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth nothing, so are their gods of wood, and of silver, and laid over with gold.
6:70. They are no better than a white thorn in a garden, upon which every bird sitteth. In like manner also their gods of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, are like to a dead body cast forth in the dark.
6:71. By the purple also and the scarlet which are motheaten upon them, you shall know that they are not gods. And they themselves at last are consumed, and shall be a reproach in the country.
6:72. Better, therefore, is the just man that hath no idols: for he shall be far from reproach.
EZECHIEL, whose name signifies the STRENGTH OF GOD, was of the priestly race; and of the number of captives that were carried away to Babylon with king JOACHIN. He was contemporary with JEREMIAS, and prophesied to the same effect in Babylon, as JEREMIAS did in Jerusalem; and is said to have ended his days in like manner, by martyrdom.
Ezechiel Chapter 1
The time of Ezechiel's prophecy: he sees a glorious vision.
1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was in the midst of the captives by the river Chobar, the heavens were opened, and I saw the visions of God.
The thirtieth year... Either of the age of Ezechiel; or, as others will have it, from the solemn covenant made in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias. 4 Kings 23.
1:2. On the fifth day of the month, the same was the fifth year of the captivity of king Joachin,
1:3. The word of the Lord came to Ezechiel the priest the son of Buzi in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chobar: and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.
1:4. And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north: and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of amber:
1:5. And in the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures: and this was their appearance: there was the likeness of a man in them.
Living creatures... Cherubims (as appears from Ecclesiasticus 49.10) represented to the prophet under these mysterious shapes, as supporting the throne of God, and as it were drawing his chariot. All this chapter appeared so obscure, and so full of mysteries to the ancient Hebrews, that, as we learn from St. Jerome, (Ep. ad Paulin.,) they suffered none to read it before they were thirty years old.
1:6. Every one had four faces, and every one four wings.
1:7. Their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their foot was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like the appearance of glowing brass.
1:8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they had faces, and wings on the four sides,
1:9. And the wings of one were joined to the wings of another. They turned not when they went: but every one went straight forward.
1:10. And as for the likeness of their faces: there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of all the four: and the face of an ox, on the left side of all the four: and the face of an eagle over all the four.
1:11. And their faces, and their wings were stretched upward: two wings of every one were joined, and two covered their bodies:
1:12. And every one of them went straight forward: whither the impulse of the spirit was to go, thither they went: and they turned not when they went.
1:13. And as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like that of burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps. This was the vision running to and fro in the midst of the living creatures, a bright fire, and lightning going forth from the fire.
1:14. And the living creatures ran and returned like flashes of lightning.
1:15. Now as I beheld the living creatures, there appeared upon the earth by the living creatures one wheel with four faces.
1:16. And the appearance of the wheels, and the work of them was like the appearance of the sea: and the four had all one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel.
1:17. When they went, they went by their four parts: and they turned not when they went.
When they went, they went by their four parts... That is, indifferently to any of their sides either forward or backward: to the right or to the left.
1:18. The wheels had also a size, and a height, and a dreadful appearance: and the whole body was full of eyes round about all the four.
1:19. And, when the living creatures went, the wheels also went together by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up with them.
1:20. Withersoever the spirit went, thither as the spirit went the wheels also were lifted up withal, and followed it: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
1:21. When those went these went, and when those stood these stood, and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together, and followed them: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
1:22. And over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of the firmament, the appearance of crystal terrible to behold, and stretched out over their heads above.
1:23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other, every one with two wings covered his body, and the other was covered in like manner.
1:24. And I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, as it were the voice of the most high God: when they walked, it was like the voice of a multitude, like the noise of an army, and when they stood, their wings were let down.
1:25. For when a voice came from above the firmament, that was over their heads, they stood, and let down their wings.
1:26. And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of the sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne, was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it.
1:27. And I saw as it were the resemblance of amber as the appearance of fire within it round about: from his loins and upward, and from his loins downward, I saw as it were the resemblance of fire shining round about.
1:28. As the appearance of the rainbow when it is in a cloud on a rainy day: this was the appearance of the brightness round about.
Ezechiel Chapter 2
The prophet receives his commission.
2:1. This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and I saw, and I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spoke, and he said to me: Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee.
2:2. And the spirit entered into me after that he spoke to me, and he set me upon my feet: and I heard him speaking to me,
2:3. And saying: Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious people, that hath revolted from me, they, and their fathers, have transgressed my covenant even unto this day.
2:4. And they to whom I send thee are children of a hard face, and of an obstinate heart: and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God:
2:5. If so be they at least will hear, and if so be they will forbear, for they are a provoking house: and they shall know that there hath been a prophet in the midst of them.
2:6. And thou, O son of man, fear not, neither be thou afraid of their words: for thou art among unbelievers and destroyers, and thou dwellest with scorpions. Fear not their words, neither be thou dismayed at their looks: for they are a provoking house.
2:7. And thou shalt speak my words to them, if perhaps they will hear, and forbear: for they provoke me to anger.
2:8. But thou, O son of man, hear all that I say to thee: and do not thou provoke me, as that house provoketh me: open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee.
2:9. And I looked, and behold, a hand was sent to me, wherein was a book rolled up: and he spread it before me, and it was written within and without: and there were written in it lamentations, and canticles, and woe.
Ezechiel Chapter 3
The prophet eats the book, and receives further instructions: the office of a watchman.
3:1. And he said to me: Son of man, eat all that thou shalt find: eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel.
Eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel... By this eating of the book was signified the diligent attention and affection with which we are to receive, and embrace the word of God; and to let it, as it were, sink into our interior by devout meditation.
3:2. And I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that book:
3:3. And he said to me: Son of man, thy belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with this book, which I give thee, and I did eat it: and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
3:4. And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.
3:5. For thou art not sent to a people of a profound speech, and of an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel:
3:6. Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words thou canst not understand: and if thou wert sent to them, they would hearken to thee.
3:7. But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee: because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.
3:8. Behold I have made thy face stronger than their faces: and thy forehead harder than their foreheads.
3:9. I have made thy face like an adamant and like flint: fear them not, neither be thou dismayed at their presence: for they are a provoking house.
3:10. And he said to me: Son of man, receive in thy heart, and hear with thy ears, all the words that I speak to thee:
3:11. And go get thee in to them of the captivity, to the children of thy people, and thou shalt speak to them, and shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: If so be they will hear, and will forbear.
3:12. And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.
3:13. The noise of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the noise of the wheels following the living creatures, and the noise of a great commotion.
3:14. The spirit also lifted me, and took me up: and I went away in bitterness in the indignation of my spirit: for the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me.
3:15. And I came to them of the captivity, to the heap of new corn, to them that dwelt by the river Chobar, and I sat where they sat: and I remained there seven days mourning in the midst of them.
The heap of new corn... It was the name of a place: in Hebrew, tel abib.
3:16. And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3:17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.
3:18. If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.
3:19. But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
3:20. Moreover if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at thy hand.
3:21. But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.
3:22. And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Rise and go forth into the plain, and there I will speak to thee.
3:23. And I rose up, and went forth into the plain: and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.
3:24. And the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in; and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house.
3:25. And thou, O son of man, behold they shall put bands upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them: and thou shalt not go forth from the midst of them.
3:26. And I will make thy tongue stick fast to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and not as a man that reproveth: because they are a provoking house.
3:27. But when I shall speak to thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: He that heareth, let him hear: and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a provoking house.
Ezechiel Chapter 4
A prophetic description of the siege of Jerusalem, and the famine that shall reign there.
4:1. And thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee: and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.
4:2. And lay siege against it, and build forts, and cast up a mount, and set a camp against it, and place battering rams round about it.
4:3. And take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face resolutely against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: it is a sign to the house of Israel.
4:4. And thou shalt sleep upon thy left side, and shalt lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt sleep upon it, and thou shalt take upon thee their iniquity.
4:5. And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days three hundred and ninety days: and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
4:6. And when thou hast accomplished this, thou shalt sleep again upon thy right side, and thou shalt take upon thee the iniquity of the house of Juda forty days: a day for a year, yea, a day for a year I have appointed to thee.
4:7. And thou shalt turn thy face to the siege of Jerusalem and thy arm shall be stretched out: and thou shalt prophesy against it.
4:8. Behold I have encompassed thee with bands: and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
4:9. And take to thee wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
4:10. And thy meat that thou shalt eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a day: from time to time thou shalt eat it.
4:11. And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time thou shalt drink it,
Hin... That is, a measure of liquids containing about ten pints.
4:12. And thou shalt eat it as barley bread baked under the ashes: and thou shalt cover it, in their sight, with the dung that cometh out of a man.
4:13. And the Lord said: So shall the children of Israel eat their bread all filthy among the nations whither I will cast them out.
4:14. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, behold my soul hath not been defiled, and from my infancy even till now, I have not eaten any thing that died of itself, or was torn by beasts, and no unclean flesh hath entered into my mouth.
4:15. And he said to me: Behold I have given thee neat's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt make thy bread therewith.
4:16. And he said to me: Son of man: Behold, I will break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care: and they shall drink water by measure, and in distress.
4:17. So that when bread and water fail, every man may fall against his brother, and they may pine away in their iniquities.
Ezechiel Chapter 5
The judgments of God upon the Jews are foreshewn under the type of the prophet's hair.
5:1. And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife that shaveth the hair: and cause it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard: and take thee a balance to weigh in, and divide the hair.
5:2. A third part thou shalt burn with fire in the midst of the city, according to the fulfilling of the days of the siege: and thou shalt take a third part, and cut it in pieces with the knife all round about: and the other third part thou shalt scatter in the wind, and I will draw out the sword after them.
5:3. And thou shalt take thereof a small number: and shalt bind them in the skirt of thy cloak.
5:4. And thou shalt take of them again, and shalt cast them in the midst of the fire, and shalt burn them with fire: and out of it shall come forth a fire into all the house of Israel.
5:5. Thus saith the Lord God: This is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her.
5:6. And she hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the Gentiles; and my commandments, more than the countries that are round about her: for they have cast off my judgments, and have not walked in my commandments.
5:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have surpassed the Gentiles that are round about you, and have not walked in my commandments, and have not kept my judgments, and have not done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you:
5:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I myself will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the Gentiles.
5:9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done: and the like to which I will do no more, because of all thy abominations.
5:10. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers: and I will execute judgments in thee, and I will scatter thy whole remnant into every wind.
5:11. Therefore as I live, saith the Lord God: Because thou hast violated my sanctuary with all thy offences, and with all thy abominations: I will also break thee in pieces, and my eye shall not spare, and I will not have any pity.
5:12. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine in the midst of thee: and a third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee: and a third part of thee will I scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
5:13. And I will accomplish my fury, and will cause my indignation to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I shall have accomplished my indignation in them.
5:14. And I will make thee desolate, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of every one that passeth by.
5:15. And thou shalt be a reproach, and a scoff, an example, and an astonishment amongst the nations that are round about thee, when I shall have executed judgments in thee in anger, and in indignation, and in wrathful rebukes.
5:16. I the Lord have spoken it: When I shall send upon them the grievous arrows of famine, which shall bring death, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will gather together famine against you: and I will break among you the staff of bread.
5:17. And I will send in upon you famine, and evil beasts unto utter destruction: and pestilence, and blood shall pass through thee, and I will bring in the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.
Ezechiel Chapter 6
The punishment of Israel for their idolatry: a remnant shall be saved.
6:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6:2. Son of man set thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.
6:3. And say: Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the rocks, and the valleys: Behold, I will bring upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places.
6:4. And I will throw down your altars, and your idols shall be broken in pieces: and I will cast down your slain before your idols.
6:5. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before your idols: and I will scatter your bones round about your altars,
6:6. In all your dwelling places. The cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be thrown down, and destroyed, and your altars shall be abolished, and shall be broken in pieces: and your idols shall be no more, and your temples shall be destroyed, and your works shall be defaced.
6:7. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
6:8. And I will leave in you some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when I shall have scattered you through the countries.
6:9. And they that are saved of you shall remember me amongst the nations, to which they are carried captives: because I have broken their heart that was faithless, and revolted from me: and their eyes that went a fornicating after their idols: and they shall be displeased with themselves because of the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
6:10. And they shall know that I the Lord have not spoken in vain that I would do this evil to them.
6:11. Thus saith the Lord God: Strike with thy hand and stamp with thy foot, and say: Alas, for all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
6:12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence: and he that is near, shall fall by the sword: and he that remaineth, and is besieged, shall die by the famine: and I will accomplish my indignation upon them.
6:13. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain shall be amongst your idols, round about your altars, in every high hill, and on all the tops of mountains, and under every woody tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they burnt sweet smelling frankincense to all their idols.
6:14. And I will stretch forth my hand upon them: and I will make the land desolate, and abandoned from the desert of Deblatha in all their dwelling places: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezechiel Chapter 7
The final desolation of Israel: from which few shall escape.
7:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
7:2. And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is come, the end is come upon the four quarters of the land.
7:3. Now is an end come upon thee, and I will send my wrath upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways: and I will set all thy abominations against thee.
7:4. And my eye shall not spare thee, and I will shew thee no pity: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
7:5. Thus saith the Lord God: One affliction, behold an affliction is come.
7:6. An end is come, the end is come, it hath awaked against thee: behold it is come.
7:7. Destruction is come upon thee that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of slaughter is near, and not of the joy of mountains.
7:8. Now very shortly I will pour out my wrath upon thee, and I will accomplish my anger in thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will lay upon thee all thy crimes.
7:9. And my eye shall not spare, neither will I shew mercy: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord that strike.
7:10. Behold the day, behold it is come: destruction is gone forth, the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
7:11. Iniquity is risen up into a rod of impiety: nothing of them shall remain, nor of their people, nor of the noise of them: and there shall be no rest among them.
7:12. The time is come, the day is at hand: let not the buyer rejoice: nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the people thereof.
7:13. For the seller shall not return to that which he hath sold, although their life be yet among the living. For the vision which regardeth all the multitude thereof, shall not go back: neither shall man be strengthened in the iniquity of his life.
7:14. Blow the trumpet, let all be made ready, yet there is none to go to the battle: for my wrath shall be upon all the people thereof.
7:15. The sword without: and the pestilence, and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die by the sword: and they that are in the city, shall be devoured by the pestilence, and the famine.
7:16. And such of them as shall flee shall escape: and they shall be in the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them trembling, every one for his iniquity.
7:17. All hands shall be made feeble, and all knees shall run with water.
7:18. And they shall gird themselves with haircloth, and fear shall cover them and shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon all their heads.
7:19. Their silver shall be cast forth, and their gold shall become a dunghill. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They shall not satisfy their soul, and their bellies shall not be filled: because it hath been the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
7:20. And they have turned the ornament of their jewels into pride, and have made of it the images of their abominations, and idols: therefore I have made it an uncleanness to them.
7:21. And I will give it into the hands of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall defile it.
7:22. And I will turn away my face from them, and they shall violate my secret place: and robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.
Secret place, etc... Viz., the inward sanctuary, the holy of holies.
7:23. Make a shutting up: for the land is full of the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity.
Make a shutting up... In Hebrew, a chain, viz., for imprisonment and captivity.
7:24. And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: and I will make the pride of the mighty to cease, and they shall possess their sanctuary.
7:25. When distress cometh upon them, they will seek for peace and there shall be none.
7:26. Trouble shall come upon trouble, and rumour upon rumour, and they shall seek a vision of the prophet, and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
7:27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with sorrow, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled. I will do to them according to their way, and will judge them according to their judgments: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezechiel Chapter 8
The prophet sees in a vision the abominations committed in Jerusalem; which determine the Lord to spare them no longer.
8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
8:2. And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins, and downward, fire: and from his loins, and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of amber.
8:3. And the likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy.
8:4. And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain.
8:5. And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north, and I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry.
8:6. And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.
8:7. And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall.
8:8. And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
8:9. And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here.
8:10. And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abominations, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were painted on the wall all round about.
8:11. And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.
8:12. And he said to me: Surely thou seest, O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
8:13. And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.
8:14. And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.
Adonis... The favourite of Venus, slain by a wild boar, as feigned by the heathen poets, and which being here represented by an idol, is lamented by the female worshippers of that goddess. In the Hebrew, the name is Tammuz.
8:15. And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
8:16. And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, in their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun.
8:17. And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose.
8:18. Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.
Ezechiel Chapter 9
All are ordered to be destroyed that are not marked in their foreheads. God will not be entreated for them.
9:1. And he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying: The visitations of the city are at hand, and every one hath a destroying weapon in his hand.
9:2. And behold six men came from the way of the upper gate, which looketh to the north: and each one had his weapon of destruction in his hand: and there was one man in the midst of them clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn at his reins: and they went in, and stood by the brazen altar.
9:3. And the glory of the Lord of Israel went up from the cherub, upon which he was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man that was clothed with linen, and had a writer's inkhorn at his loins.
9:4. And the Lord said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem: and mark Thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst thereof.
Mark Thau... Thau, or Tau, is the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and signifies a sign, or a mark; which is the reason why some translators render this place set a mark, or mark a mark without specifying what this mark was. But St. Jerome, and other interpreters, conclude it was the form of the letter Thau, which in the ancient Hebrew character, was the form of a cross.
9:5. And to the others he said in my hearing: Go ye after him through the city, and strike: let not your eyes spare, nor be ye moved with pity.
9:6. Utterly destroy old and young, maidens, children and women: but upon whomsoever you shall see Thau, kill him not, and begin ye at my sanctuary. So they began at the ancient men who were before the house.
9:7. And he said to them: Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew them that were in the city.
9:8. And the slaughter being ended I was left; and I fell upon my face, and crying, I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, wilt thou then destroy all the remnant of Israel, by pouring out thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9:9. And he said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel, and of Juda, is exceeding great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is filled with perverseness: for they have said: The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.
9:10. Therefore neither shall my eye spare, nor will I have pity: I will requite their way upon their head.
9:11. And behold the man that was clothed with linen, that had the inkhorn at his back, returned the word, saying: I have done as thou hast commanded me.
Ezechiel Chapter 10
Fire is taken from the midst of the wheels under the cherubims, and scattered over the city. A description of the cherubims.
10:1. And I saw and behold in the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubims, there appeared over them as it were the sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
10:2. And he spoke to the man, that was clothed with linen, and said: Go in between the wheels that are under the cherubims and fill thy hand with the coals of fire that are between the cherubims, and pour them out upon the city. And he went in, in my sight:
10:3. And the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.
10:4. And the glory of the Lord was lifted up from above the cherub to the threshold of the house: and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
10:5. And the sound of the wings of the cherubims was heard even to the outward court as the voice of God Almighty speaking.
10:6. And when he had commanded the man that was clothed with linen, saying: Take fire from the midst of the wheels that are between the cherubims: he went in and stood beside the wheel.
10:7. And one cherub stretched out his arm from the midst of the cherubims to the fire that was between the cherubims: and he took, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it and went forth.
10:8. And there appeared in the cherubims the likeness of a man's hand under their wings.
10:9. And I saw, and behold there were four wheels by the cherubims: one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was to the sight like the chrysolite stone:
10:10. And as to their appearance, all four were alike: as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel.
10:11. And when they went, they went by four ways: and they turned not when they went: but to the place whither they first turned, the rest also followed, and did not turn back.
By four ways... That is, by any of the four ways, forward, backward, to the right or to the left.
10:12. And their whole body, and their necks, and their hands, and their wings, and the circles were full of eyes, round about the four wheels.
10:13. And these wheels he called voluble, in my hearing.
Voluble... That is, rolling wheels, galgal.
10:14. And every one had four faces: one face was the face of a cherub, and the second face, the face of a man: and in the third was the face of a lion: and in the fourth the face of an eagle.
10:15. And the cherubims were lifted up: this is the living creature that I had seen by the river Chobar.
10:16. And when the cherubims went, the wheels also went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings, to mount up from the earth, the wheels stayed not behind, but were by them.
10:17. When they stood, these stood: and when they were lifted up, these were lifted up: for the spirit of life was in them.
10:18. And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the temple: and stood over the cherubims.
10:19. And the cherubims lifting up their wings, were raised from the earth before me: and as they went out, the wheels also followed: and it stood in the entry of the east gate of the house of the Lord: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
10:20. This is the living creature, which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chobar: and I understood that they were cherubims.
10:21. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings: and the likeness of a man's hand was under their wings.
10:22. And as to the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces which I had seen by the river Chobar, and their looks, and the impulse of every one to go straight forward.
Ezechiel Chapter 11
A prophecy against the presumptuous assurance of the great ones. A remnant shall be saved, and receive a new spirit, and a new heart.
11:1. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the east gate of the house of the Lord, which looketh towards the rising of the sun: and behold in the entry of the gate five and twenty men: and I saw in the midst of them Jezonias the son of Azur, and Pheltias the son of Banaias, princes of the people.
11:2. And he said to me: Son of man, these are the men that study iniquity, and frame a wicked counsel in this city,
11:3. Saying: Were not houses lately built? This city is the caldron, and we the flesh.
Were not houses lately built, etc... These men despised the predictions and threats of the prophets; who declared to them from God, that the city should be destroyed, and the inhabitants carried into captivity: and they made use of this kind of argument against the prophets, that the city, so far from being like to be destroyed, had lately been augmented by the building of new houses; from whence they further inferred, by way of a proverb, using the similitude of a cauldron, out of which the flesh is not taken, till it is thoroughly boiled, and fit to be eaten, that they should not be carried away out of their city, but there end their days in peace.
11:4. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, thou son of man.
11:5. And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me: Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, for I know the thoughts of your heart.
11:6. You have killed a great many in this city, and you have filled the streets thereof with the slain.
11:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have laid in the midst thereof, they are the flesh, all this is the caldron: and I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof.
11:8. You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord God.
11:9. And I will cast you out of the midst thereof, and I will deliver you into the hand of the enemies, and I will execute judgments upon you.
11:10. You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
In the borders of Israel... They pretended that they should die in peace in Jerusalem; God tells them it should not be so; but that they should be judged and condemned, and fall by the sword in the borders of Israel: viz., in Reblatha in the land of Emath, where all their chief men were put to death by Nabuchodonosor. 4 Kings 25., and Jer. 52.10, 27.
11:11. This shall not be as a caldron to you, and you shall not be as flesh in the midst thereof: I will judge you in the borders of Israel.
11:12. And you shall know that I am the Lord: because you have not walked in my commandments, and have not done my judgments, but you have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.
11:13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pheltias the son of Banaias died: and I fell down upon my face, and I cried with a loud voice: and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: wilt thou make an end of all the remnant of Israel?
11:14. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
11:15. Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy kinsmen, and all the house of Israel, all they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get ye far from the Lord, the land is given in possession to us.
Thy brethren, etc... He speaks of them that had been carried away captives before; who were despised by them that remained in Jerusalem: but as the prophet here declares to them from God, should be in a more happy condition than they, and after some time return from their captivity.
11:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because I have removed them far off among the Gentiles, and because I have scattered them among the countries: I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come.
11:17. Therefore speak to them: Thus saith the Lord God: I will gather you from among the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
11:18. And they shall go in thither, and shall take away all the scandals, and all the abominations thereof from thence.
11:19. And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:
11:20. That they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments, and do them: and that they may be my people, and I may be their God.
11:21. But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, I will lay their way upon their head, saith the Lord God.
11:22. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
11:23. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mount that is on the east side of the city.
11:24. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea, to them of the captivity, in vision, by the spirit of God: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me.
11:25. And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me.
Ezechiel Chapter 12
The prophet forsheweth, by signs, the captivity of Sedecias, and the desolation of the people: all which shall quickly come to pass.
12:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
12:2. Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house.
12:3. Thou, therefore, O son of man, prepare thee all necessaries for removing, and remove by day into their sight: and thou shalt remove out of thy place to another place in their sight, if so be they will regard it: for they are a provoking house.
12:4. And thou shalt bring forth thy furniture as the furniture of one that is removing by day in their sight: and thou shalt go forth in the evening in their presence, as one goeth forth that removeth his dwelling.
12:5. Dig thee a way through the wall before their eyes: and thou shalt go forth through it.
12:6. In their sight thou shalt be carried out upon men's shoulders, thou shalt be carried out in the dark: thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign of things to come to the house of Israel.
12:7. I did therefore as he had commanded me: I brought forth my goods by day, as the goods of one that removeth: and in the evening I digged through the wall with my hand, and I went forth in the dark, and was carried on men's shoulders in their sight.
12:8. And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying:
12:9. Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the provoking house, said to thee: What art thou doing?
12:10. Say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: This burden concerneth my prince that is in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel, that are among them.
12:11. Say: I am a sign of things to come to you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall be removed from their dwellings, and go into captivity.
12:12. And the prince that is in the midst of them, shall be carried on shoulders, he shall go forth in the dark: they shall dig through the wall to bring him out: his face shall be covered, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.
12:13. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net: and I will bring him into Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it, and there he shall die.
He shall not see it... Because his eyes shall be put out by Nabuchodonosor.
12:14. And all that are about him, his guards, and his troops I will scatter into every wind: and I will draw out the sword after them.
12:15. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have dispersed them among the nations, and scattered them in the countries.
12:16. And I will leave a few men of them from the sword, and from the famine, and from the pestilence: that they may declare all their wicked deeds among the nations whither they shall go: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
12:17. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
12:18. Son of man, eat thy bread in trouble and drink thy water in hurry and sorrow.
12:19. And say to the people of the land: Thus saith the Lord God to them that dwell in Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in care, and drink their water in desolation: that the land may become desolate from the multitude that is therein, for the iniquity of all that dwell therein.
12:20. And the cities that are now inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
12:21. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
12:22. Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel? saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail.
12:23. Say to them therefore: Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, neither shall it be any more a common saying in Israel: and tell them that the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.