Ezekiel by the River

That was in the fifth year since King Jehoiachin of Judah had been taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried him off from Jerusalem to Babylon with his mother, his wives, his officers and the chief men of the land. He also carried away all the people of Jerusalem, all the princes and all the warriors, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and metalworkers. No one was left but the poorest people of the land.

There, in the land of the Chaldeans, beside the river Chebar, the Lord’s word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi. The Lord’s hand was on him there.

Ezekiel looked, and he saw a stormy wind coming out of the north: a great cloud, with lightning flashing and a brightness all around it. In the middle of it, in the middle of the fire, there was something like glowing metal.

Out of its center came the likeness of four living creatures. This is how they looked: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.

Their feet were straight, with soles like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like polished bronze. Under their wings, on all four sides, they had human hands.

Their faces and their wings were like this. Their wings touched one another. When they went, they didn’t turn; each one went straight forward. As for their faces, each of the four had a man’s face, a lion’s face on the right side, an ox’s face on the left side, and an eagle’s face as well. Those were their faces. Their wings were spread out above them. Each one had two wings that touched another one, and two that covered its body.

Each one went straight forward. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went, and they didn’t turn as they went. The living creatures looked like burning coals of fire, like torches. The fire went up and down among them. It was bright, and out of the fire came lightning. And the living creatures ran out and back again, like flashes of lightning.

The wheels and the way they were made looked like beryl, a precious stone. All four looked alike. They looked as if they were made like a wheel within a wheel.

They went in their four directions, and they didn’t turn as they went. Their rims were high and fearsome, and all around, the rims of all four were full of eyes.

Wherever the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. When the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still. When the creatures were lifted up from the ground, the wheels were lifted up beside them. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went, because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

As they went, Ezekiel heard their wings. They sounded like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, an uproar like the noise of an army. There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads. Whenever the creatures stood still, they let their wings down.

Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne, which looked like sapphire. And on the likeness of the throne, up above, was a likeness that looked like a man.

From what looked like his waist upward, Ezekiel saw something like glowing metal, as if fire were inside it all around. And from what looked like his waist downward, he saw what looked like fire. There was brightness all around him.

The brightness all around him looked like the rainbow in the cloud when it rains. This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lord’s glory. When Ezekiel saw it, he bowed with his face to the ground, and he heard a voice. Someone was speaking.

As he spoke, the Spirit came into Ezekiel and set him on his feet, and Ezekiel heard the one who was speaking to him.

“Son of man,” he said, “I send you to the Israelites, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. Both they and their ancestors have sinned against me, right up to this day. The children, the people living now, are shameless and hard-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you will tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’

“They are a rebellious people. They may listen, or they may refuse. Either way, they will know that there has been a prophet among them.

“And you, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, and don’t be afraid of their words, though you have briers and thorns around you and you are living among scorpions. Don’t fear what they say, and don’t be frightened by the way they look at you, though they are a rebellious people.

“Whether they listen or refuse, you are to speak my words to them. They are very rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I tell you. Don’t be rebellious like those rebellious people. Open your mouth. Eat what I am giving you.”

“Son of man,” he said, “eat what you find. Eat this scroll, then go to the people of Israel and speak to them.”

So Ezekiel opened his mouth, and the one speaking to him fed him the scroll.

“Son of man,” he said, “eat this scroll that I give you, and fill your belly and your insides with it.” So Ezekiel ate it. It was as sweet as honey in his mouth.

“But the people of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to me. All the people of Israel are stubborn and hard-hearted. Look, I have made your face hard to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. I have made your forehead hard as diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, and don’t be frightened by the way they look at you, though they are a rebellious people.”

He went on, “Son of man, keep in your heart every word I speak to you, and hear it with your ears. Go to the captives, to your own people. Whether they listen or refuse, speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’”

So the Spirit lifted him up and took him away. Ezekiel was bitter as he went, his spirit burning hot inside him, and the Lord’s hand was strong on him.

He came to the captives who lived at Tel Aviv, by the river Chebar. He went to where they were living, and for seven days he sat there among them, overwhelmed.

“Suppose I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you give him no warning. You don’t speak up to warn him away from his wicked way and save his life. Then that wicked man will die in his sin. But I will make you answer for his blood.

“But if you warn the wicked man, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness or from his wicked ways, he will die in his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

“And when a righteous man turns away from doing right and does wrong, and I place a stumbling block in his path, he will die. Because you didn’t warn him, he will die in his sin, and the right things he has done won’t be remembered. But I will make you answer for his blood.

“But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he doesn’t sin, he will surely live, because he took the warning. And you will have saved yourself.”

So Ezekiel got up and went out into the plain. The Lord’s glory stood there, like the glory he had seen by the river Chebar. Ezekiel bowed with his face to the ground.

Then the Spirit came into him and set him on his feet. He spoke with Ezekiel and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

“But you, son of man, look: they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, and you won’t go out among them. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you can’t speak and won’t be able to correct them, because they are a rebellious people.

“But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever will listen, let him listen, and whoever refuses, let him refuse, because they are a rebellious people.”