“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. ¹  Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. ²  Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off.

You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty.

But this one from Israel’s royal family ¹  rebelled against the king of Babylon ²  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

“And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times! It is a sword for slaughter, a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.

I will put tendons ¹  on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath ²  in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, ¹  – prophesy, son of man – and say to the breath: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’”

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

On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court, one ¹  at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the south ²  gate facing north.

“They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd. ¹ 

“‘Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with fragrant oil.

The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ¹ 

When she saw them, ¹  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ² 

¹ Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty.

and casks of wine ¹  from Izal ²  they exchanged for your products. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were among your merchandise.

It was beautiful in its loftiness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down deep to plentiful waters.

In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, ¹  the word of the Lord came to me:

I will lay waste your cities; and you will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord!

The pavement was beside the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.

He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces north.

There were porches all around, 43¾ feet ¹  long and 8¾ feet ²  wide.