Idolatry and True Worship

¹People of Israel, listen to the message that the Lord has for you.

²He says, “Do not follow the ways of other nations; do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky, even though other nations are terrified.

³The religion of these people is worthless. A tree is cut down in the forest; it is carved by the tools of the woodworker

⁴and decorated with silver and gold. It is fastened down with nails to keep it from falling over.

⁵Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons; they cannot speak; they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them: they can cause you no harm, and they can do you no good.”

⁶Lord, there is no one like you; you are mighty, and your name is great and powerful.

⁷Who would not honor you, the king of all nations? You deserve to be honored. There is no one like you among all the wise men of the nations or among any of their kings.

⁸All of them are stupid and foolish. What can they learn from wooden idols?

⁹Their idols are covered with silver from Spain and with gold from Uphaz, all the work of artists; they are dressed in violet and purple cloth woven by skilled weavers.

¹⁰But you, Lord, are the true God, you are the living God and the eternal king. When you are angry, the world trembles; the nations cannot endure your anger.

¹¹(You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.)

A Hymn of Praise to God

¹²The Lord made the earth by his power; by his wisdom he created the world and stretched out the heavens.

¹³At his command the waters above the sky roar; he brings clouds from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash in the rain and sends the wind from his storeroom.

¹⁴At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless; those who make idols are disillusioned, because the gods they make are false and lifeless.

¹⁵They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them.

¹⁶The God of Jacob is not like them; he is the one who made everything, and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people. The Lord Almighty is his name.

The Coming Exile

¹⁷People of Jerusalem, you are under siege! Gather up your belongings.

¹⁸The Lord is going to throw you out of this land; he is going to crush you until not one of you is left. The Lord has spoken.

¹⁹The people of Jerusalem cried out, “How badly we are hurt! Our wounds will not heal. And we thought this was something we could endure!

²⁰Our tents are ruined; the ropes that held them have broken. Our children have all gone away; there is no one left to put up our tents again; there is no one to hang their curtains.”

²¹I answered, “Our leaders are stupid; they do not ask the Lord for guidance. This is why they have failed, and our people have been scattered.

²²Listen! News has come! There is a great commotion in a nation to the north; its army will turn the cities of Judah into a desert, a place where jackals live.”

²³Lord, I know that none of us are in charge of our own destiny; none of us have control over our own life.

²⁴Correct your people, Lord, but do not be too hard on us or punish us when you are angry; that would be the end of us.

²⁵Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you and on the people who reject you. They have killed your people; they have destroyed us completely and left our country in ruins.

Jeremiah and the Covenant

¹The Lord said to me,

²“Listen to the terms of the covenant. Tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem

³that I, the Lord God of Israel, have placed a curse on everyone who does not obey the terms of this covenant.

⁴It is the covenant I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, the land that was like a blazing furnace to them. I told them to obey me and to do everything that I had commanded. I told them that if they obeyed, they would be my people and I would be their God.

⁵Then I would keep the promise I made to their ancestors that I would give them the rich and fertile land which they now have.” I said, “Yes, Lord.”

⁶Then the Lord said to me, “Go to the cities of Judah and to the streets of Jerusalem. Proclaim my message there and tell the people to listen to the terms of the covenant and to obey them.

⁷When I brought their ancestors out of Egypt, I solemnly warned them to obey me, and I have kept on warning the people until this day.

⁸But they did not listen or obey. Instead, everyone continued to be as stubborn and evil as ever. I had commanded them to keep the covenant, but they refused. So I brought on them all the punishments described in it.”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “The people of Judah and of Jerusalem are plotting against me.

¹⁰They have gone back to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to do what I said; they have worshiped other gods. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors.

¹¹So now I, the Lord, warn them that I am going to bring destruction on them, and they will not escape. And when they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them.

¹²Then the people of Judah and of Jerusalem will go to the gods to whom they offer sacrifices and will cry out to them for help. But those gods will not be able to save them when this destruction comes.

¹³The people of Judah have as many gods as they have cities, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have set up as many altars for sacrifices to that disgusting god Baal as there are streets in the city.

¹⁴Jeremiah, don't pray to me or plead with me on behalf of these people. When they are in trouble and call to me for help, I will not listen to them.”

¹⁵The Lord says, “The people I love are doing evil things. What right do they have to be in my Temple? Do they think they can prevent disaster by making promises and by offering animal sacrifices? Will they then rejoice?

¹⁶I once called them a leafy olive tree, full of beautiful fruit; but now, with a roar like thunder I will set its leaves on fire and break its branches.

¹⁷“I, the Lord Almighty, planted Israel and Judah; but now I threaten them with disaster. They have brought this on themselves because they have done wrong; they have made me angry by offering sacrifices to Baal.”

A Plot against Jeremiah's Life

¹⁸The Lord informed me of the plots that my enemies were making against me.

¹⁹I was like a trusting lamb taken out to be killed, and I did not know that it was against me that they were planning evil things. They were saying, “Let's chop down the tree while it is still healthy; let's kill him so that no one will remember him any more.”

²⁰Then I prayed, “Almighty Lord, you are a just judge; you test people's thoughts and feelings. I have placed my cause in your hands; so let me watch you take revenge on these people.”

²¹The people of Anathoth wanted me killed, and they told me that they would kill me if I kept on proclaiming the Lord's message.

²²So the Lord Almighty said, “I will punish them! Their young men will be killed in war; their children will die of starvation.

²³I have set a time for bringing disaster on the people of Anathoth, and when that time comes, none of them will survive.”

Ezekiel Is Taken to Jerusalem

¹It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away.

²In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me a group of buildings that looked like a city.

³He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.

⁴He said to me, “Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate

⁵What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick.

⁶Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep.

⁷Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple.

^8-9He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick.

¹⁰(These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)

¹¹Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet.

¹²In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.)

¹³Then he measured the distance from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet.

¹⁴The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide.

¹⁵The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet.

¹⁶There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones,

¹⁸which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.

¹⁹There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

The North Gate

²⁰Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard.

²¹The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

²²The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard.

²³Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

The South Gate

²⁴Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others.

²⁵There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

²⁶Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

²⁷Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet.

The Inner Courtyard: The South Gate

²⁸The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall.

^29-30Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

³¹Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The East Gate

³²The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others.

³³Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

³⁴The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The North Gate

³⁵Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others.

³⁶Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet.

³⁷The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

Buildings Near the North Gate

³⁸In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices.

³⁹In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings.

⁴⁰Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate.

⁴¹Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard.

⁴²The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables.

⁴³Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables.

⁴⁴Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway.

⁴⁵The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple,

⁴⁶and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him.

The Inner Courtyard and the Temple Building

⁴⁷The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar.

⁴⁸Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide, with walls 5 feet thick on either side.

⁴⁹Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep. There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.

⁵It is foolish to ignore what your parents taught you; it is wise to accept their correction.

⁶Righteous people keep their wealth, but the wicked lose theirs when hard times come.

⁷Knowledge is spread by people who are wise, not by fools.

⁸The Lord is pleased when good people pray, but hates the sacrifices that the wicked bring him.