Sign in
Old TestamentProphecy

Ezekiel

48Chapters
1,273Verses
0Notes
0Reflections
Book Introduction

Ezekiel prophesied among the exiles in Babylon, and no prophet's message came in stranger packaging: a throne-chariot of wheels and living creatures, street-theater sign-acts, a valley of dry bones rattling to life. A priest called to prophesy far from his temple, Ezekiel first demolishes false hope, announcing that Jerusalem must fall and watching in vision as God's glory departs the sanctuary. After the city's destruction, his message pivots to restoration: a new heart and spirit, a shepherd-king like David, a resurrected people, and a gleaming visionary temple. The book's last words name the renewed city: The Lord Is There.

Author

Ezekiel, priest and prophet among the Babylonian exiles.

Date

Ministry 593–c. 571 BC in Babylon.

Audience

Judean exiles by the Chebar canal in Babylon.

Purpose

To justify God's judgment on Jerusalem and promise inner renewal and restored presence, that all may know he is the Lord.

Key Themes
The glory of the LordPersonal responsibilityJudgment then restorationA new heart and spiritGod's presence returned
Book Outline
1–3Vision and call by the Chebar
4–24Judgment on Jerusalem
25–32Oracles against the nations
33–39Restoration and dry bones
40–48The visionary temple and land
Key Verses
ALL CHAPTERS48 chapters
1
Ezekiel receives his inaugural vision of the divine thron...
2
The Lord addresses the overwhelmed prophet, calling him t...
3
The prophet eats the scroll, finding it sweet to his tast...
4
Ezekiel performs a series of sign-acts to dramatize Jerus...
5
Ezekiel shaves his head with a sword and divides the hair...
6
God pronounces judgment against Israel's mountains, high ...
7
God announces the end is coming upon Israel with overwhel...
8
The Spirit transports Ezekiel to Jerusalem's temple where...
9
God summons six figures with weapons of destruction and a...
10
The glory of the Lord ascends from the cherubim, moves to...
11
The Spirit carries Ezekiel to the east gate where he enco...
12
Ezekiel performs sign-acts of exile: bringing out househo...
13
God condemns false prophets and prophetesses who claim in...
14
Elders approach Ezekiel seeking God's word while harborin...
15
God presents Jerusalem as a useless vine whose wood is no...
16
God presents Jerusalem as an abandoned orphan girl rescue...
17
God presents an allegory of a great eagle carrying vine c...
18
God announces that each person bears responsibility for t...
19
God commands Ezekiel to compose a lamentation for Israel'...
20
Elders ask Ezekiel to inquire of God, and God reviews Isr...
21
God draws a sword and announces judgment against Judah an...
22
God catalogs Jerusalem's sins in comprehensive detail: bl...
23
God presents an allegory of two sisters, Oholah (Samaria)...
24
A specific prophecy arrives on the very day Babylon begin...
25
God announces judgment against Israel's neighbors: Ammon ...
26
God announces Tyre's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and ot...
27
God presents a lament for Tyre, depicting the city as a m...
28
God addresses the king of Tyre, suggesting that his pride...
29
God addresses Pharaoh as a monster of the Nile and announ...
30
God announces the day of the Lord is coming upon Egypt, d...
31
God presents Assyria as a magnificent cedar tree surpassi...
32
God announces a lamentation for Pharaoh and Egypt, depict...
33
The watchman parable is restated, establishing that the p...
34
God condemns the shepherds (leaders) of Israel for their ...
35
God announces judgment against Mount Seir (representing E...
36
God promises to restore Israel and Judah, cleanse them fr...
37
God places Ezekiel in a valley filled with dry bones and ...
38
God announces that Gog of Magog will arise from the dista...
39
God confirms Gog's defeat, detailing that Israel will col...
40
At the beginning of the jubilee year, God carries Ezekiel...
41
Ezekiel is conducted into the inner sanctuary (the holy o...
42
Ezekiel is shown the priests' chambers north and south of...
43
The glory of the Lord enters the temple from the east, fi...
44
The gate through which the Lord entered remains perpetual...
45
God specifies the division of the restored land: a sacred...
46
God specifies the regulations for worship at the gates an...
47
A life-giving river flows from beneath the temple's thres...
48
God specifies the final division of the restored land: se...