“Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have brought up ¹  your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force. ² 

Groan in silence for the dead, ¹  but do not perform mourning rites. ²  Bind on your turban ³  and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip ⁴  and do not eat food brought by others.” ⁵ 

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city ¹  was struck down, on this very day, ²  the hand ³  of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there. ⁴ 

He stretched out the form ¹  of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind ²  lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem ³  by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue ⁴  which provokes to jealousy was located.

The Dedanites ¹  were your clients. Many coastlands were your customers; they paid ²  you with ivory tusks and ebony.

So I did just as I was commanded. I carried out my belongings packed for exile during the day, and at evening I dug myself a hole through the wall with my hands. I went out in the darkness, carrying my baggage ¹  on my shoulder while they watched.

She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. ¹ 

I will do these things to you ¹  because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols.

Then a wind ¹  lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, ²  in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me.

So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. ¹  You will not seek their help ²  or remember Egypt anymore.

Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate which faces east and measured all around.

He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

By the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness of your trade, you desecrated your sanctuaries. So I drew fire out from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth before the eyes of all who saw you.

When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate ¹  it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You ²  have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices.

Next I noticed the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side bringing back word: “I have done just as you commanded me.”

Then he led me toward the south. I saw ¹  a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and its porches; they had the same dimensions as the others.

It sprouted and became a vine, spreading low to the ground; ¹  its branches turning toward him, ²  its roots were under itself. ³  So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.

Again he measured 1,750 feet and led me through the water, which was now knee deep. Once more he measured 1,750 feet and led me through the water, which was waist deep.

so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.

this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tear off the turban, ¹  take off the crown! Things must change! ²  Exalt the lowly, bring down the proud! ³