Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 367
24:15–25:5
E ze k iel
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Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, with one
blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any
sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. Groan silently, but
let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off
your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any
food brought to you by consoling friends.”
So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening
my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do.
Then the people asked, “What does all this mean? What are you trying
to tell us?”
So I said to them, “A message came to me from the Lord, and I was
told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign
Lord says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride,
the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left
behind in Judah will be slaughtered by the sword. Then you will do as
Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by
eating the food brought by friends. Your heads will remain covered, and
your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep, but you
will waste away because of your sins. You will groan among yourselves for
all the evil you have done. Ezekiel is an example for you; you will do just
as he has done. And when that time comes, you will know that I am the
Sovereign Lord.”
Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, on the day I take away their
stronghold—their joy and glory, their heart’s desire, their dearest trea
sure—I will also take away their sons and daughters. And on that day a
survivor from Jerusalem will come to you in Babylon and tell you what
has happened. And when he arrives, your voice will suddenly return so
you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol for these people. Then they
will know that I am the Lord.”
Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, turn and face
the land of Ammon and prophesy against its people. Give the Ammonites
this message from the Sovereign Lord: Hear the word of the Sovereign
Lord! Because you cheered when my Temple was defiled, mocked Israel
in her desolation, and laughed at Judah as she went away into exile, I will
allow nomads from the eastern deserts to overrun your country. They will
set up their camps among you and pitch their tents on your land. They
will harvest all your fruit and drink the milk from your livestock. And I will
