Old Testament · 48 chapters
Read Ezekiel.
Ezekiel speaks to a people in exile through visions, symbolic actions, and prophetic messages. The book moves from judgment on corruption toward promises of a new heart, restored life, and God’s presence among a renewed people.
Choose a chapter Ezekiel · 48 chapters
Read a chapter. Find its meaning.
Choose a chapter for the complete Bible text and a short summary to guide your reading.
Chapter 1.
Among the exiles, Ezekiel sees living creatures, moving wheels, and a radiant throne. The vision reveals God’s glory beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem.
Read chapter 10 versesChapter 2.
God commissions Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious people whether they listen or refuse. A scroll containing words of lament and judgment is presented to him.
Read chapter 27 versesChapter 3.
Ezekiel eats the scroll and is appointed as a watchman responsible to warn others. His calling includes difficult constraints and accountability for faithful speech.
Read chapter 17 versesChapter 4.
Ezekiel enacts Jerusalem’s siege through a model, prolonged symbolic postures, and rationed food. The actions portray confinement, scarcity, and the burden of Israel’s wrongdoing.
Read chapter 17 versesChapter 5.
Ezekiel cuts and divides his hair to symbolize different outcomes for Jerusalem’s people. The city’s privilege makes its persistent rebellion especially accountable.
Read chapter 14 versesChapter 6.
Judgment is announced against Israel’s idolatrous high places. Survivors will remember their unfaithfulness and recognize the Lord amid the ruins.
Read chapterChapter 7.
The repeated announcement that the end has come conveys the urgency of judgment. Wealth, leadership, and religious institutions cannot shield the people from its consequences.
Read chapter 18 versesChapter 8.
Ezekiel is shown a series of idolatrous practices within Jerusalem’s temple precincts. The visions expose corruption in the very place associated with God’s presence.
Read chapter 11 versesChapter 9.
A mark identifies those who grieve Jerusalem’s wrongdoing before judgment begins at the sanctuary. The vision stresses both moral distinction and the seriousness of communal corruption.
Read chapter 22 versesChapter 10.
The vision of the living creatures returns as God’s glory moves away from the temple. Burning coals and departing glory portray judgment on Jerusalem.
Read chapter 25 versesChapter 11.
Corrupt leaders receive judgment, while exiles are promised gathering and a new heart. God’s glory then departs from the city toward the mountain east of it.
Read chapter 28 versesChapter 12.
Ezekiel acts out departure into exile and the ruler’s attempted escape. The people are warned that judgment will no longer remain a distant possibility.
Read chapter 23 versesChapter 13.
False prophets and prophetesses are condemned for invented messages and deceptive reassurance. Their work is compared with a weak wall covered to conceal its defects.
Read chapter 23 versesChapter 14.
Leaders who harbor idols are called to repentance before seeking divine guidance. Even exemplary righteous individuals could not prevent the announced judgment on the land.
Read chapter 8 versesChapter 15.
Wood from a vine is used as an image of Jerusalem’s failed purpose. Having become unfit for useful service, it is pictured as fuel for judgment.
Read chapter 63 versesChapter 16.
Jerusalem’s history is portrayed as an abandoned child rescued and adorned, then as an unfaithful wife. Severe accusations end with a promise of remembered covenant and atonement.
Read chapter 24 versesChapter 17.
A riddle about two eagles and a vine exposes Judah’s broken political oath. The chapter closes with God planting a tender branch that becomes a sheltering tree.
Read chapter 32 versesChapter 18.
A proverb blaming children’s suffering entirely on their ancestors is challenged. Personal responsibility, repentance, and God’s desire for life are emphasized.
Read chapter 14 versesChapter 19.
A lament compares Judah’s rulers to young lions captured and removed. A second image portrays the royal house as a once-fruitful vine now uprooted.
Read chapter 49 versesChapter 20.
Israel’s history is reviewed as repeated rebellion met by God’s restraint for his name’s sake. Judgment and a future gathering aim at renewed recognition of the Lord.
Read chapter 32 versesChapter 21.
Images of a sharpened sword announce approaching judgment on Jerusalem and its ruler. Babylon’s advance and a further warning to Ammon sharpen the message.
Read chapter 31 versesChapter 22.
Jerusalem is accused of bloodshed, exploitation, and corruption across rulers, priests, prophets, and people. The search for someone to stand in the gap finds no one.
Read chapter 49 versesChapter 23.
Samaria and Jerusalem are portrayed as sisters pursuing destructive foreign relationships. The extended marriage imagery exposes idolatry and political dependence leading to judgment.
Read chapter 27 versesChapter 24.
A boiling pot symbolizes Jerusalem under siege. Ezekiel’s wife dies, and his restricted mourning becomes a sign of the people’s shock when the sanctuary is lost.
Read chapter 17 versesChapter 25.
Oracles confront Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia for hostility toward Judah. Their responses to another people’s disaster become grounds for judgment.
Read chapter 21 versesChapter 26.
Tyre is warned of invasion and destruction after celebrating Jerusalem’s fall. Its commercial strength and island position cannot guarantee lasting security.
Read chapter 36 versesChapter 27.
A lament portrays Tyre as a magnificent trading ship filled with international wealth. Its wreck becomes an image of commercial power suddenly brought to ruin.
Read chapter 26 versesChapter 28.
Tyre’s ruler is rebuked for pride and claims to divine status, followed by a lament over fallen splendor. Judgment on Sidon and hope for Israel complete the chapter.
Read chapter 21 versesChapter 29.
Pharaoh is pictured as a great river creature wrongly claiming ownership of the Nile. Egypt’s humiliation will expose its weakness as a source of support for Israel.
Read chapter 26 versesChapter 30.
The approaching day brings judgment on Egypt and its allies. The breaking of Pharaoh’s power is described through ruined cities and the image of a broken arm.
Read chapter 18 versesChapter 31.
Assyria’s former greatness is pictured as a towering cedar brought down through pride. Pharaoh is warned that impressive power cannot prevent a similar fall.
Read chapter 32 versesChapter 32.
A lament portrays Pharaoh’s downfall through images of a captured monster and darkened skies. Egypt joins other fallen powers in the realm of the dead.
Read chapter 33 versesChapter 33.
Ezekiel’s watchman responsibility is renewed, and Jerusalem’s fall is reported. The people are urged to turn from wrongdoing rather than merely enjoy hearing prophetic words.
Read chapter 31 versesChapter 34.
Israel’s self-serving shepherds are condemned for neglecting and scattering the flock. God promises to gather, tend, and judge his sheep under a faithful shepherd.
Read chapter 15 versesChapter 35.
Mount Seir is judged for longstanding hostility and opportunism toward Israel. The desire to possess another people’s devastated land is exposed.
Read chapter 38 versesChapter 36.
Israel’s mountains are promised renewed fruitfulness and returning inhabitants. God pledges cleansing, a new heart, and his Spirit as the basis for restored life.
Read chapter 28 versesChapter 37.
Dry bones are raised to life, picturing the restoration of a people who have lost hope. Two joined sticks then symbolize a reunited Israel under one king.
Read chapter 23 versesChapter 38.
Gog leads a vast coalition against a restored people living securely. God announces an intervention that will expose the invader and make his holiness known.
Read chapter 29 versesChapter 39.
Gog’s defeat is followed by the clearing of the land and the recognition of God’s judgment. Israel’s restoration concludes the vision with a promise of the Spirit’s presence.
Read chapter 49 versesChapter 40.
Ezekiel is brought in a vision to a high mountain and shown a temple complex. Detailed measurements begin with gates, courts, and arrangements for worship.
Read chapter 26 versesChapter 41.
The measuring continues through the temple building, its inner rooms, side chambers, and decorations. The detailed vision emphasizes ordered sacred space.
Read chapter 20 versesChapter 42.
Rooms associated with priestly service and the outer boundaries are measured. Distinctions between holy and common space shape the temple’s arrangement.
Read chapter 27 versesChapter 43.
God’s glory returns to fill the temple, reversing the earlier departure. Instructions concerning the altar and its consecration prepare for renewed worship.
Read chapter 31 versesChapter 44.
Rules address access to the sanctuary, the eastern gate, and priestly responsibilities. Faithfulness in service determines distinctions among the Levites and priests.
Read chapter 25 versesChapter 45.
Land is allocated for the sanctuary, city, and ruler, alongside commands for honest measures. Contributions and festival offerings support a justly ordered worshiping community.
Read chapter 24 versesChapter 46.
Instructions regulate the ruler’s worship, Sabbath and festival offerings, and inheritance. The vision also includes kitchens for preparing offerings.
Read chapter 23 versesChapter 47.
Water flows from the temple and becomes a life-giving river, healing what it reaches. The chapter then sets out the land’s boundaries and provision for resident foreigners.
Read chapter 35 versesChapter 48.
The land is divided among the tribes around the sacred portion and city. The vision ends with the city’s defining name: the Lord is there.
Read chapterKing James Version (KJV). Bible text supplied by eBible.org and the CrossWire Bible Society. Summaries are written with AI assistance and are separate from Scripture. Read the chapter itself when considering its meaning.
