Good News Translation (GNT)

God’s Throne

1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year,I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. (

2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.)

3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power.

4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze.

5 At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form,

6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze.

8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing.

9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies.

10 Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion’s face at the right, a bull’s face at the left, and an eagle’s face at the back.

11 Two wingsof each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies.

12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn.

13 Amongthe creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning.

14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning.

15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them.

16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles,

17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions.

18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes.

19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels.

20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them.

21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same.

22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal.

23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings.

24 I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings,

25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads.

26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being.

27 The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light

28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord.

God Calls Ezekiel to Be a Prophet

When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

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1 saying, “Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you.”

2 While the voice was speaking, God’s spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue,

3 “Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They have rebelled and turned against me and are still rebels, just as their ancestors were.

4 They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them.

5 Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them.

6 “But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions. Still, don’t be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say.

7 You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are.

8 “Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. Don’t be rebellious like them. Open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you.”

9 I saw a hand reaching out toward me, and it was holding a scroll.

10 The hand unrolled the scroll, and I saw that there was writing on both sides—cries of grief were written there, and wails and groans.

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1 God said, “Mortal man, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.”

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 He said, “Mortal man, eat this scroll that I give you; fill your stomach with it.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey.

4 Then God said, “Mortal man, go to the people of Israel and say to them whatever I tell you to say.

5 I am not sending you to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language, but to the Israelites.

6 If I sent you to great nations that spoke difficult languages you didn’t understand, they would listen to you.

7 But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant.

8 Now I will make you as stubborn and as tough as they are.

9 I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don’t be afraid of those rebels.”

10 God continued, “Mortal man, pay close attention and remember everything I tell you.

11 Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not.”

12 Then God’s spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the loud roar of a voice that said, “Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven above!”

13 I heard the wings of the creatures beating together in the air, and the noise of the wheels, as loud as an earthquake.

14 The power of the Lord came on me with great force, and as his spirit carried me off, I felt bitter and angry.

15 So I came to Tel Abib beside the Chebar River, where the exiles were living, and for seven days I stayed there, overcome by what I had seen and heard.

The Lord Appoints Ezekiel as a Lookout

16 After the seven days had passed, the Lord spoke to me.

17 “Mortal man,” he said, “I am making you a lookout for the nation of Israel. You will pass on to them the warnings I give you.

18 If I announce that someone evil is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, he will die, still a sinner, but I will hold you responsible for his death.

19 If you do warn an evil man and he doesn’t stop sinning, he will die, still a sinner, but your life will be spared.

20 “If someone truly good starts doing evil and I put him in a dangerous situation, he will die if you do not warn him. He will die because of his sins—I will not remember the good he did—and I will hold you responsible for his death.

21 If you do warn a good man not to sin and he listens to you and doesn’t sin, he will stay alive, and your life will also be spared.”

Ezekiel Will Be Unable to Talk

22 I felt the powerful presence of the Lord and heard him say to me, “Get up and go out into the valley. I will talk to you there.”

23 So I went out into the valley, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen it beside the Chebar River. I fell face downward on the ground,

24 but God’s spirit entered me and raised me to my feet. The Lord said to me, “Go home and shut yourself up in the house.

25 You will be tied with ropes, mortal man, and you will not be able to go out in public.

26 I will paralyze your tongue so that you won’t be able to warn these rebellious people.

27 Then, when I speak to you again and give you back the power of speech, you will tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. Some of them will listen, but some will ignore you, for they are a nation of rebels.”

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Ezekiel Acts Out the Siege of Jerusalem

1 God said, “Mortal man, get a brick, put it in front of you, and scratch lines on it to represent the city of Jerusalem.

2 Then, to represent a siege, put trenches, earthworks, camps, and battering rams all around it.

3 Take an iron pan and set it up like a wall between you and the city. Face the city. It is under siege, and you are the one besieging it. This will be a sign to the nation of Israel.

4-5 “Then lie down on your left side, and Iwill place on you the guilt of the nation of Israel. For 390 days you will stay there and suffer because of their guilt. I have sentenced you to one day for each year their punishment will last.

6 When you finish that, turn over on your right side and suffer for the guilt of Judah for forty days—one day for each year of their punishment.

7 “Fix your eyes on the siege of Jerusalem. Shake your fist at the city and prophesy against it.

8 I will tie you up so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until the siege is over.

9 “Now take some wheat, barley, beans, peas, millet, and spelt. Mix them all together and make bread. That is what you are to eat during the 390 days you are lying on your left side.

10 You will be allowed eight ounces of bread a day, and it will have to last until the next day.

11 You will also have a limited amount of water to drink, two cups a day.

12 You are to build a fire out of dried human excrement, bake bread on the fire, and eat it where everyone can see you.”

13 The Lord said, “This represents the way the Israelites will have to eat food which the Law forbids,when I scatter them to foreign countries.”

14 But I replied, “No, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From childhood on I have never eaten meat from any animal that died a natural death or was killed by wild animals. I have never eaten any food considered unclean.”

15 So God said, “Very well. I will let you use cow dung instead, and you can bake your bread on that.”

16 And he added, “Mortal man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread for Jerusalem. The people there will be distressed and anxious as they measure out the food they eat and the water they drink.

17 They will run out of bread and water; they will be in despair, and they will waste away because of their sins.”

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Ezekiel Cuts His Hair

1 The Lord said, “Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts.

2 Burn up a third of it in the city when the siege is over. Take another third and chop it up with your sword as you move around outside the city. Scatter the remaining third to the winds, and I will pursue it with my sword.

3 Keep back a few hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes.

4 Then take a few of them out again, throw them in the fire, and let them burn up. From them fire will spread to the whole nation of Israel.”

5 The Sovereign Lord said, “Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her.

6 But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws.

7 Now listen, Jerusalem, to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. By not obeying my laws or keeping my commands, you have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have followed the customs of other nations.

8 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it.

9 Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again.

10 As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive.

11 “Therefore, as I am the living God—this is the word of the Sovereign Lord—because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy.

12 A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword.

13 “You will feel all the force of my anger and rage until I am satisfied. When all this happens, you will be convinced that I, the Lord, have spoken to you because I am outraged at your unfaithfulness.

14 Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance.

15 “When I am angry and furious with you and punish you, all the nations around you will be terrified. They will look at you with disgust and make fun of you.

16 I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. Youwill feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you.

17 I will send hunger and wild animals to kill your children, and will send sickness, violence, and war to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

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The Lord Condemns Idolatry

1 The Lord spoke to me.

2 “Mortal man,” he said, “look toward the mountains of Israel and give them my message.

3 Tell the mountains of Israel to hear the Sovereign Lord’s word—to hear what I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling the mountains, the hills, the gorges, and the valleys: I will send a sword to destroy the places where people worship idols.

4 The altars will be torn down and the incense altars broken. All the people there will be killed in front of their idols.

5 I will scatter the corpses of the people of Israel; I will scatter their bones all around the altars.

6 All the cities of Israel will be destroyed, so that all their altars and their idols will be smashed to pieces, their incense altars will be shattered, and everything they made will disappear.

7 People will be killed everywhere, and those who survive will acknowledge that I am the Lord.

8 “I will let some escape the slaughter and be scattered among the nations,

9 where they will live in exile. There they will remember me and know that I have punished them and disgraced them,because their faithless hearts deserted me and they preferred idols to me. And they will be disgusted with themselves because of the evil and degrading things they have done.

10 They will know that I am the Lord and that my warnings were not empty threats.”

11 The Sovereign Lord said, “Wring your hands! Stamp your feet! Cry in sorrow because of all the evil, disgusting things the Israelites have done. They are going to die in war or of starvation or disease.

12 Those far away will get sick and die; those nearby will be killed in war; those who survive will starve to death. They will feel all the force of my anger.

13 Corpses will be scattered among the idols and around the altars, scattered on every high hill, on the top of every mountain, under every green tree and every large oak, in every place where they burned sacrifices to their idols. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord.

14 Yes, I will reach out and destroy their country. I will make it a wasteland from the southern desert to the city of Riblah in the north, not sparing any place where the Israelites live. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord.”

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The End Is Near for Israel

1 The Lord spoke to me.

2 “Mortal man,” he said, “this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!

3 “Israel, the end has come. You will feel my anger, because I am judging you for what you have done. I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct.

4 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord.”

5 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: “One disaster after another is coming on you.

6 It’s all over. This is the end. You are finished.

7 The end is coming for you people who live in the land. The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion.

8 “Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger. I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct.

9 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord and that I am the one who punishes you.”

10 The day of disaster is coming. Violence is flourishing. Pride is at its height.

11 Violence produces more wickedness. Nothing of theirs will remain, nothing of their wealth, their splendor, or their glory.

12 The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God’s punishment will fall on everyone alike.

13 No merchants will live long enough to get back what they have lost, because God’s anger is on everyone. Those who are evil cannot survive.

14 The trumpet blows, and everyone gets ready. But no one goes off to war, for God’s anger will fall on everyone alike.

Punishment for Israel’s Sins

15 There is fighting in the streets, and sickness and hunger in the houses. Anyone who is out in the country will die in the fighting, and anyone in the city will be a victim of sickness and hunger.

16 Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins.

17 Everyone’s hands will be weak, and their knees will shake.

18 They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced.

19 They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the Lord pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin.

20 Once they were proud of their beautiful jewels, but they used them to make disgusting idols. That is why the Lord has made their wealth repulsive to them.

21 “I will let foreigners rob them,” says the Lord, “and lawbreakers will take all their wealth and defile it.

22 I will not interfere when my treasured Temple is profaned, when robbers break into it and defile it.

23 “Everything is in confusion—the land is full of murders and the cities are full of violence.

24 I will bring the most evil nations here and let them have your homes. Your strongest men will lose their confidence when I let the nations profane the places where you worship.

25 Despair is coming. You will look for peace and never find it.

26 One disaster will follow another, and a steady stream of bad news will pour in. You will beg the prophets to reveal what they foresee. The priests will have nothing to teach the people, and the elders will have no advice to give.

27 The king will mourn, the prince will give up hope, and the people will shake with fear. I will punish you for all you have done, and will judge you in the same way as you have judged others. This will show you that I am the Lord.”

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Idolatry in Jerusalem

1 On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign Lord came on me.

2 I looked up and saw a vision of a fiery human form. From the waist down his body looked like fire, and from the waist up he was shining like polished bronze.

3 He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair. Then in this vision God’s spirit lifted me high in the air and took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner entrance of the north gate of the Temple, where there was an idol that was an outrage to God.

4 There I saw the dazzling light that shows the presence of Israel’s God, just as I had seen it when I was by the Chebar River.

5 God said to me, “Mortal man, look toward the north.” I looked, and there near the altar by the entrance of the gateway I saw the idol that was an outrage to God.

6 God said to me, “Mortal man, do you see what is happening? Look at the disgusting things the people of Israel are doing here, driving me farther and farther away from my holy place. You will see even more disgraceful things than this.”

7 He took me to the entrance of the outer courtyard and showed me a hole in the wall.

8 He said, “Mortal man, break through the wall here.” I broke through it and found a door.

9 He told me, “Go in and look at the evil, disgusting things they are doing there.”

10 So I went in and looked. The walls were covered with drawings of snakes and other unclean animals,and of the other things which the Israelites were worshiping.

11 Seventy Israelite leaders were there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each one was holding an incense burner, and smoke was rising from the incense.

12 God asked me, “Mortal man, do you see what the Israelite leaders are doing in secret? They are all worshiping in a room full of images. Their excuse is: ‘The Lord doesn’t see us! He has abandoned the country.’”

13 Then the Lord said to me, “You are going to see them do even more disgusting things than that.”

14 So he took me to the north gate of the Temple and showed me women weeping over the death of the god Tammuz.

15 He asked, “Mortal man, do you see that? You will see even more disgusting things.”

16 So he took me to the inner courtyard of the Temple. There near the entrance of the sanctuary, between the altar and the porch, were about twenty-five men. They had turned their backs to the sanctuary and were bowing low toward the east, worshiping the rising sun.

17 The Lord said to me, “Mortal man, do you see that? These people of Judah are not satisfied with merely doing all the disgusting things you have seen here and with spreading violence throughout the country. No, they must come and do them right here in the Temple and make me even more angry. Look how they insult me in the most offensive way possible!

18 They will feel all the force of my anger. I will not spare them or show them any mercy. They will shout prayers to me as loud as they can, but I will not listen to them.”

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Jerusalem Is Punished

1 Then I heard God shout, “Come here, you men who are going to punish the city. Bring your weapons with you.”

2 At once six men came from the outer north gate of the Temple, each one carrying a weapon. With them was a man dressed in linen clothes, carrying something to write with. They all came and stood by the bronze altar.

3 Then the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel rose up from the winged creatureswhere it had been, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. The Lord called to the man dressed in linen,

4 “Go through the whole city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is distressed and troubled because of all the disgusting things being done in the city.”

5 And I heard God say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill. Spare no one; have mercy on no one.

6 Kill the old men, young men, young women, mothers, and children. But don’t touch anyone who has the mark on his forehead. Start here at my Temple.” So they began with the leaders who were standing there at the Temple.

7 God said to them, “Defile the Temple. Fill its courtyards with corpses. Get to work!” So they began to kill the people in the city.

8 While the killing was going on, I was there alone. I threw myself face downward on the ground and shouted, “Sovereign Lord, are you so angry with Jerusalem that you are going to kill everyone left in Israel?”

9 God answered, “The people of Israel and Judah are guilty of terrible sins. They have committed murder all over the land and have filled Jerusalem with crime. They say that I, the Lord, have abandoned their country and that I don’t see them.

10 But I will not have pity on them; I will do to them what they have done to others.”

11 Then the man wearing linen clothes returned and reported to the Lord, “I have carried out your orders.”

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The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

1 I looked at the dome over the heads of the living creaturesand above them was something that seemed to be a throne made of sapphire.

2 God said to the man wearing linen clothes, “Go between the wheels under the creatures and fill your hands with burning coals. Then scatter the coals over the city.”

I watched him go.

3 The creatures were standing to the south of the Temple when he went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard.

4 The dazzling light of the Lord’s presence rose up from the creatures and moved to the entrance of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple, and the courtyard was blazing with the light.

5 The noise made by the creatures’ wings was heard even in the outer courtyard. It sounded like the voice of Almighty God.

6 When the Lord commanded the man wearing linen clothes to take some fire from between the wheels that were under the creatures, the man went in and stood by one of the wheels.

7 One of the creatures reached his hand into the fire that was there among them, picked up some coals, and put them in the hands of the man in linen. The man took the coals and left.

8 I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings.

9-10 I also saw that there were four wheels, all alike, one beside each creature. The wheels shone like precious stones, and each one had another wheel which intersected it at right angles.

11 When the creatures moved, they could go in any direction without turning. They all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around.

12 Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes.

13 I heard a voice calling out, “Whirling wheels.”

14 Each creature had four faces. The first was the face of a bull, the second a human face, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 (They were the same creatures that I had seen by the Chebar River.) When the creatures rose in the air

16 and moved, the wheels went with them. Whenever they spread their wings to fly, the wheels still went with them.

17 When the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures flew, the wheels went with them, because the creatures controlled them.

18 Then the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures.

19 They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I was watching, and the wheels went with them. They paused at the east gate of the Temple, and the dazzling light was over them.

20 I recognized them as the same creatures which I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Chebar River.

21 Each of them had four faces, four wings, and what looked like a human hand under each wing.

22 Their faces looked exactly like the facesI had seen by the Chebar River. Each creature moved straight ahead.

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