By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall – all of them are the most terrifying among the nations. They will devastate the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes will be destroyed.

Their ¹  graves are located in the remote slopes of the pit. ²  Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue ¹  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, ²  for they are a rebellious house.

The Lord ¹  said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork ²  underneath the cherubim. ³  Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.

They come to you in crowds, ¹  and they sit in front of you as ²  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ³  them. For they talk lustfully, ⁴  and their heart is set on ⁵  their own advantage. ⁶ 

And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.” ¹ 

“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer ¹  for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live.

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; ¹  they are the worthless slag of silver.

I will shoot against them deadly, ¹  destructive ²  arrows of famine, ³  which I will shoot to destroy you. ⁴  I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply. ⁵ 

But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground. The east wind ¹  dried up its fruit; its strong branches broke off and withered – a fire consumed them.

Its windows, its porches, and its decorative palm trees had the same measurement as the gate which faced east. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch was in front of them.

While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, “Ah, sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?”

I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them.

They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth. ¹  Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s fury. ²  They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth ³  was the obstacle leading to their iniquity. ⁴ 

“‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note ¹  that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people’s lives ²  like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people’s lives, which you hunt like birds.

Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. ¹  All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the pit; they are placed among the dead.

“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us, ¹  and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’

The prince will not take away any of the people’s inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.’”

Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: ¹  “‘A great eagle ²  with broad wings, long feathers, ³  with full plumage which was multi-hued, ⁴  came to Lebanon ⁵  and took the top of the cedar.

When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. ¹  When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.