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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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He took me to the entrance of the outer courtyard and showed me a hole in the wall.
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He said, "Mortal man, break through the wall here." I broke through it and found a door.
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He told me, "Go in and look at the evil, disgusting things they are doing there."
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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.
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Seventy Israelite leaders were there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each one was holding an incense burner, and smoke was rising from the incense.
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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.' "
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Then the LORD said to me, "You are going to see them do even more disgusting things than that."
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So he took me to the north gate of the Temple and showed me women weeping over the death of the god Tammuz.
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He asked, "Mortal man, do you see that? You will see even more disgusting things."
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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.
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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!
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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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Then I heard God shout, "Come here, you men who are going to punish the city. Bring your weapons with you."
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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.
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Then the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel rose up from the winged creatures where it had been, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. The LORD called to the man dressed in linen,
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"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."
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And I heard God say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill. Spare no one; have mercy on no one.
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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.
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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.
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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?"
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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.
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But I will not have pity on them; I will do to them what they have done to others."
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Then the man wearing linen clothes returned and reported to the LORD, "I have carried out your orders."
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I looked at the dome over the heads of the living creatures and above them was something that seemed to be a throne made of sapphire.
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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.
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The creatures were standing to the south of the Temple when he went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard.
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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.
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The noise made by the creatures' wings was heard even in the outer courtyard. It sounded like the voice of Almighty God.
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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.
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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.
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I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings.
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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.
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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.
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Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes.
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I heard a voice calling out, "Whirling wheels."
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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.
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(They were the same creatures that I had seen by the Chebar River.) When the creatures rose in the air
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and moved, the wheels went with them. Whenever they spread their wings to fly, the wheels still went with them.
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When the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures flew, the wheels went with them, because the creatures controlled them.
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Then the dazzling light of the LORD's presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures.
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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.
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I recognized them as the same creatures which I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Chebar River.
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Each of them had four faces, four wings, and what looked like a human hand under each wing.
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Their faces looked exactly like the faces I had seen by the Chebar River. Each creature moved straight ahead.
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God's spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the Temple. There near the gate I saw twenty-five men, including Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, two leaders of the nation.
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God said to me, "Mortal man, these men make evil plans and give bad advice in this city.
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They say, 'We will soon be building houses again. The city is like a cooking pot, and we are like the meat in it, but at least it protects us from the fire.'
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Now then, denounce them, mortal man."
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The spirit of the LORD took control of me, and the LORD told me to give the people this message: "People of Israel, I know what you are saying and what you are planning.
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You have murdered so many people here in the city that the streets are full of corpses.
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"So this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to you. This city is a cooking pot all right, but what is the meat? The corpses of those you have killed! You will not be here---I will throw you out of the city!
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Are you afraid of swords? I will bring soldiers with swords to attack you.
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I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners. I have sentenced you to death,
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and you will be killed in battle in your own country. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD.
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This city will not protect you the way a pot protects the meat in it. I will punish you wherever you may be in the land of Israel.
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You will know that I am the LORD and that while you were keeping the laws of the neighboring nations, you were breaking my laws and disobeying my commands."
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While I was prophesying, Pelatiah dropped dead. I threw myself face downward on the ground and shouted, "No, Sovereign LORD! Are you going to kill everyone left in Israel?"
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"Mortal man," he said, "the people who live in Jerusalem are talking about you and those of your nation who are in exile. They say, 'The exiles are too far away to worship the LORD. He has given us possession of the land.'
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"Now tell your fellow exiles what I am saying. I am the one who sent them to live in far-off nations and scattered them in other countries. Yet, for the time being I will be present with them in the lands where they have gone.
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"So tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying. I will gather them out of the countries where I scattered them, and will give the land of Israel back to them.
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When they return, they are to get rid of all the filthy, disgusting idols they find.
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I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart.
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Then they will keep my laws and faithfully obey all my commands. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
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But I will punish the people who love to worship filthy, disgusting idols. I will punish them for what they have done." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.
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The living creatures began to fly, and the wheels went with them. The dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel was over them.
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Then the dazzling light left the city and moved to the mountain east of it.
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In the vision the spirit of God lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Babylonia. Then the vision faded,
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and I told the exiles everything that the LORD had shown me.
1
At this point I had another vision and saw an open door in heaven. And the voice that sounded like a trumpet, which I had heard speaking to me before, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this."
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At once the Spirit took control of me. There in heaven was a throne with someone sitting on it.
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His face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian, and all around the throne there was a rainbow the color of an emerald.
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In a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, on which were seated twenty-four elders dressed in white and wearing crowns of gold.
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From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front of the throne seven lighted torches were burning, which are the seven spirits of God.
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Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. Surrounding the throne on each of its sides, were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and behind.
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The first one looked like a lion; the second looked like a bull; the third had a face like a human face; and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
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Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and they were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day and night they never stop singing: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come."
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The four living creatures sing songs of glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. When they do so,
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the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They throw their crowns down in front of the throne and say,
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"Our Lord and God! You are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were given existence and life."
