Ezekiel - Revised Standard Version (1966)
Ezekiel's complex character makes him one of the most interesting figures in Israelite prophecy. In many ways he resembles the more primitive type of prophet represented by Elijah and Elisha; yet he clearly depends on all his predecessors in prophecy, and his teaching is a development of theirs. His unique contribution to the history of prophetism lies in his manifest interest in the temple and the liturgy, an interest paralleled in no other prophet-not even Jeremiah who, like Ezekiel, was also a priest. Particularly because of this interest, Ezekiel's influence on postexilic religion was enormous, and not without reason has he been called "the father of Judaism." This has resulted in his prophecies reaching us with the evident marks of editing and addition by the post-exilic circles that shared his intense interest. However, we may be sure that in this book we have throughout what is in substance the prophet's own work. Ezekiel became a prophet in Babylon-the first prophet to receive the call to prophesy outside the Holy Land. As one of the exiles deported by Nebuchadnezzar in 597, his first task was to prepare his fellow countrymen in Babylon for the final destruction of Jerusalem, which they believed to be inviolable. Accordingly, the first part of his book consists of reproaches for Israel's past and present sins and the confident prediction of yet a further devastation of the land of promise and a more general exile. In 587, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, Ezekiel was vindicated before his unbelieving compatriots. After this time, Ezekiel's message changes. From now on his prophecy is characterized by the promise of salvation in a new covenant, and he is anxious to lay down the conditions necessary to obtain it. Even as Jeremiah had believed, Ezekiel thought that the exiles were the hope of Israel's restoration, once God's allotted time for the Exile had been accomplished. His final eight chapters are an utopian vision of the Israel of the future, rid of its past evils and reestablished firmly under the rule of the Lord. The famous vision of the dry bones in chapter 37 expresses his firm belief in a forthcoming restoration, Israel rising to new life from the graveyard of Babylon. But Ezekiel's new covenant, like Jeremiah's, was to see its true fulfillment only in the New Testament. Perhaps no other prophet has stressed the absolute majesty of God as Ezekiel does. This appears not only in the tremendous vision by the river Chebar with which his prophecy opens, but throughout the book. Ultimately, says Ezekiel, whatever God does to or for man is motivated by zeal for his own holy name. The new heart and the new spirit which must exist under the new covenant cannot be the work of man; they too must be the work of God. By such teachings he helped prepare for the New Testament doctrine of salvation through grace. The Book of Ezekiel is divided as follows: I. Call of the Prophet (Ezekiel 1:1-3:27) II. Before the Siege of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1-24:27) III. Prophecies against Foreign Nations (Ezekiel 25:1-32:32) IV. Salvation for Israel (Ezekiel 33:1-39:29) V. The New Israel (Ezekiel 40:1-48:35) - (NAB)

Headings



Book of


EZEKIEL


1 The Vision of the Chariot
2 The Vision of the Scroll
3 Ezekiel at the River Chebar
Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced
4 The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed
5 A Sword against Jerusalem
6 Judgment on Idolatrous Israel
7 Impending Disaster
8 Abominations in the Temple
9 The Slaughter of the Idolaters
10 God's Glory Leaves Jerusalem
11 Judgment on Wicked Counselors
God Will Restore Israel
12 Judah's Captivity Portrayed
Judgment Not Postponed
13 False Prophets Condemned
14 God's Judgments Justified
15 The Useless Vine
16 God's Faithless Bride
An Everlasting Covenant
17 The Two Eagles and the Vine
Israel Exalted at Last
18 Individual Retribution
19 Israel Degraded
20 Israel's Continuing Rebellion
God Will Restore Israel
A Prophecy against the Negeb
21 The Drawn Sword of God
22 The Bloody City
23 Oholah and Oholibah
24 The Boiling Pot
Ezekiel's Bereavement
25 Proclamation against Ammon
Proclamation against Moab
Proclamation against Edom
Proclamation against Philistia
26 Proclamation against Tyre
27 Lamentation over Tyre
28 Proclamation against the King of Tyre
Lamentation over the King of Tyre
Proclamation against Sidon
Future Blessing for Israel
29 Proclamation against Egypt
Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt
30 Lamentation for Egypt
Proclamation against Pharaoh
31 The Lofty Cedar
32 Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
Dirge over Egypt
33 Ezekiel Israel's Sentry
God's Justice and Mercy
The Fall of Jerusalem
The Survivors in Judah
34 Israel's False Shepherds
God, the True Shepherd
35 Judgment on Mount Seir
36 Blessing on Israel
The Renewal of Israel
37 The Valley of Dry Bones
The Two Sticks
38 Invasion by Gog
Judgment on Gog
39 Gog's Armies Destroyed
The Burial of Gog
Israel Restored to the Land
40 The Vision of the New Temple
The Temple
42 The Holy Chambers and the Outer Wall
43 The Divine Glory Returns to the Temple
The Altar
44 The Closed Gate
Admission to the Temple
The Levitical Priests
45 The Holy District
Weights and Measures
Offerings
Festivals
46 Miscellaneous Regulations
47 Water Flowing from the Temple
The New Boundaries of the Land
48 The Tribal Portions

Version
Nova Vulgata - Latin
Biblia del Pueblo di Dio (BPD) - Spanish
Vulgata - Stuttgart 1969 - Latin
Bíblia Sagrada Ave-Maria (1957) - Portuguese
La Sainte Bible (Crampon 1904) - French
CEI (1974) - Italian
EinheitsÜbersetzung der Heiligen Sc - German