The Daily Audio Bible

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

¹⁶ At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^{(A) 17} “Son of man, I have made you a watchman^(B) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.^{(C) 18} When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,^(D)’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for^[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{(E) 19} But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn^(F) from their wickedness^(G) or from their evil ways, they will die^(H) for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.^(I)

²⁰ “Again, when a righteous person turns^(J) from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block^(K) before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{(L) 21} But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.^(M)”

²² The hand of the Lord^(N) was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go^(O) out to the plain,^(P) and there I will speak to you.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,^(Q) and I fell facedown.^(R)

²⁴ Then the Spirit came into me and raised me^(S) to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.^{(T) 25} And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.^{(U) 26} I will make your tongue stick to the roof^(V) of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.^{(W) 27} But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^(X) Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.^(Y)

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ² Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp^(Z) up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.^{(AA) 3} Then take an iron pan,^(AB) place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward^(AC) it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign^(AD) to the people of Israel.^(AE)

⁴ “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.^[b] You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. ⁵ I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

⁶ “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin^(AF) of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.^{(AG) 7} Turn your face^(AH) toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. ⁸ I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.^(AI)

⁹ “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;^(AJ) put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. ¹⁰ Weigh out twenty shekels^[c](AK) of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. ¹¹ Also measure out a sixth of a hin^[d] of water and drink it at set times.^{(AL) 12} Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement^(AM) for fuel.” ¹³ The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”^(AN)

¹⁴ Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord!^(AO) I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead^(AP) or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.^(AQ)”

¹⁵ “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

¹⁶ He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off^(AR) the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,^{(AS) 17} for food and water will be scarce.^(AT) They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of^[e] their sin.^(AU)

God’s Razor of Judgment

5 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor^(AV) to shave^(AW) your head and your beard.^(AX) Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. ² When the days of your siege come to an end, burn^(AY) a third^(AZ) of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind.^(BA) For I will pursue them with drawn sword.^{(BB) 3} But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.^{(BC) 4} Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire^(BD) and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.

⁵ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.^{(BE) 6} Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.^(BF)

⁷ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even^[f] conformed to the standards of the nations around you.^(BG)

⁸ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations.^{(BH) 9} Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.^{(BI) 10} Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents.^(BJ) I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.^{(BK) 11} Therefore as surely as I live,^(BL) declares the Sovereign^(BM) Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary^(BN) with all your vile images^(BO) and detestable practices,^(BP) I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.^{(BQ) 12} A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds^(BR) and pursue with drawn sword.^(BS)

¹³ “Then my anger will cease and my wrath^(BT) against them will subside, and I will be avenged.^(BU) And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.^(BV)

¹⁴ “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.^{(BW) 15} You will be a reproach^(BX) and a taunt, a warning^(BY) and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke.^(BZ) I the Lord have spoken.^{(CA) 16} When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.^{(CB) 17} I will send famine and wild beasts^(CC) against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed^(CD) will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.^(CE)”

Doom for the Mountains of Israel

6 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face^(CF) against the mountains^(CG) of Israel; prophesy against them^{(CH) 3} and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys:^(CI) I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.^{(CJ) 4} Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars^(CK) will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols.^{(CL) 5} I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones^(CM) around your altars.^{(CN) 6} Wherever you live,^(CO) the towns will be laid waste and the high places^(CP) demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols^(CQ) smashed and ruined, your incense altars^(CR) broken down, and what you have made wiped out.^{(CS) 7} Your people will fall slain^(CT) among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.^(CU)

⁸ “‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape^(CV) the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.^{(CW) 9} Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember^(CX) me—how I have been grieved^(CY) by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.^(CZ) They will loathe themselves for the evil^(DA) they have done and for all their detestable practices.^{(DB) 10} And they will know that I am the Lord;^(DC) I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.^(DD)

¹¹ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague.^{(DE) 12} One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath^(DF) on them.^{(DG) 13} And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols^(DH) around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak^(DI)—places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.^{(DJ) 14} And I will stretch out my hand^(DK) against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah^[g]—wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.^(DL)’”

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.^{(A) 2} For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.^{[a](B) 3} Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”^{[c](D) 5} And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”^(E)

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,^{(F) 7} God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest,^(H) God would not have spoken^(I) later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,^[e](J) just as God did from his.^{(K) 11} Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.^(L)

¹² For the word of God^(M) is alive^(N) and active.^(O) Sharper than any double-edged sword,^(P) it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.^{(Q) 13} Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.^(R) Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest^(S) who has ascended into heaven,^[f](T) Jesus the Son of God,^(U) let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.^{(V) 15} For we do not have a high priest^(W) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are^(X)—yet he did not sin.^{(Y) 16} Let us then approach^(Z) God’s throne of grace with confidence,^(AA) so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.