Yet he too is wise ¹  and he will bring disaster; he does not retract his decree. ²  He will attack the wicked nation, ³  and the nation that helps ⁴  those who commit sin. ⁵ 

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹  I strengthen you – yes, I help you – yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ² 

The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched from thirst. I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ¹  I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys ¹  his servant? Whoever walks in deep darkness, ²  without light, should trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

“Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ¹  who seek the Lord! Look at the rock from which you were chiseled, at the quarry ²  from which you were dug! ³ 

Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal ¹  and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! ² 

“You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ¹  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ²  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ³ 

ח (Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; ¹  therefore she became an object of scorn. ²  All who admired ³  her have despised her ⁴  because they have seen her nakedness. ⁵  She groans aloud ⁶  and turns away in shame. ⁷ 

כ (Kaf) All her people groaned as they searched for a morsel of bread. ¹  They exchanged ²  their valuables ³  for ⁴  just enough food to stay alive. ⁵ “Look, O Lord! Consider ⁶  that I have become worthless!”

פ (Pe) All your enemies gloated over you. ¹  They sneered and gnashed their teeth; they said, “We have destroyed ²  her! Ha! We have waited a long time for this day. We have lived to see it!” ³ 

As I watched, I noticed ¹  a windstorm ²  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ³  such that bright light ⁴  rimmed it and came from ⁵  it like glowing amber ⁶  from the middle of a fire.

As I watched, I noticed ¹  a form that appeared to be a man. ²  From his waist downward was something like fire, ³  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ⁴  like an amber glow. ⁵ 

He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward ¹  the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.

When they ¹  moved, they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved; in the direction the head would turn they would follow ²  without turning as they moved,

“I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ¹ 

Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot ¹  for your iniquities ²  and groan among yourselves.

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness ¹  you have ruled over them.

When he brought me there, I saw ¹  a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.

Then he went to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate as 10½ feet deep. ¹ 

There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. There were windows all around the inside, and on each jamb were decorative palm trees. ¹