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One-sentence summary: Ezekiel prophesies a sword of judgment against his people for their evil deeds.
The word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel. He tells him to set his face toward Jerusalem, to preach against the holy places and prophesy against Israel. The Lord says He is against them and will draw His sword and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from them. His sword will be against all flesh, that all flesh will know that He is the Lord and that He has drawn His sword out from His sheath. He tells Ezekiel to "sigh with a breaking heart" and with bitterness before their eyes. When they ask him why he is sighing, he is to say, "Because of the news. When it comes, every heart will melt. All hands will be feeble. Every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and will be brought to pass!" The word of the Lord comes again, and He tells him to prophesy and say, "A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished!" This if for a "dreadful slaughter," and the sword will flash like lightning. The Lord asks (sarcastically) if the people should make merry and tells Ezekiel to cry and wail, because it will be against His people, the terrors of the sword. He tells him to strike his hands together. The Lord also will beat His fists together and cause His fury to rest. The word of the Lord comes again, and He tells Ezekiel to appoint two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go. He tells him to make a sign and put it at the head of the road of the city and also put one for the Amonites to Judah and to fortified Jerusalem. He says the king of Babylon will sit at the fork and use divination to lay siege to Jerusalem, and it will be like a false divination to those who have sworn oaths with them (they will think it cannot happen.) However, the Lord says now that their transgressions are uncovered, Israel will be taken. He calls the prince of Israel wicked and profane and says his day has come and tells him to remove his turban and crown. Nothing will remain the same. "Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted," says the Lord. Israel will be overthrown "until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him." The Lord says concerning the Amonites that a sword is drawn, polished for slaughter. They divine a lie to Israel, and the Lord will judge them in the land of their nativity. They will be delivered into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy, and they will not be remembered.
The word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel again, and He asks him to judge "the bloody city" and show her all her abominations. The Lord says she has shed blood and made idols to defile herself. They have "caused their days to draw near and have come to the end of their years." Therefore, the Lord has made them a mockery to the nations. They will be "infamous and full of tumult." He lists their many sins: they have "made light of father and mother," oppressed the stranger, and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. They have despised the Lord's holy things and profaned His Sabbaths. They have shed blood and committed lewd acts. They are even guilty of incense. They take blood money and extort and have forgotten the Lord. Therefore, the Lord beats His fists at the bloodshed and dishonest prophets. He says their hearts will not endure nor their hands remain strong when He deals with them and scatters them among the nations. He will remove their filthiness from them, and they will defile themselves in the sight of the nations. Then, they will know He is the Lord. The word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel again, and He says Israel has become dross to Him. Therefore, He will gather them in the midst of Jerusalem as men gather metals in a furnace to burn them. They will know it is the Lord who has done it. He says, "They have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made difference between the unclean and the clean." They have even profaned the Lord in not keeping His Sabbaths. Their princes go after dishonest gain, and their prophets divine lies. They oppress and rob and mistreat the poor and needy. The Lord says He sought for a man who would "make a wall and stand in the gap" before Him on behalf of the land that He might not destroy it, but He found no one. Therefore, He has poured out His indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of HIs wrath and repaid them according to their deeds.
Thoughts/discussion questions:
The Lord is still seeking people to stand in the gap in intercessory prayer for wayward people. He is long-suffering and doesn't want anyone to perish, but desires that everyone come to repentance and be saved. (See 2 Peter 3:9.)