BIBLE BOOK GUIDE
Ezekiel
48 chapters
In the midst of exile and unfaithfulness, the glory of the LORD departs—yet only temporarily—for He will judge the nations, restore Israel, and dwell among His people as their sanctuary and King.
Ezekiel
Choose a chapter
Pick a chapter and it opens in the Current chapter tab. Come back here whenever you want to choose another one.
Why this book was written
Ezekiel prophesied among the exiles in Babylon. He was appointed as a watchman to the rebellious house, announcing judgment for idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness (chs. 1–24). After the fall of Jerusalem, he brought comfort, assuring the remnant that God's glory would return, that Israel would be restored, and that the LORD Himself would dwell among them in a new temple and on a renewed earth (chs. 33–48).
Structure
- 1–3Ezekiel's Call and Prophetic Commission
- 4–24Judgment on Jerusalem and the Rebellious House
- 25–32Oracles Against the Nations
- 33–39Promises of Restoration: Shepherds, a New Heart, and Victory
- 40–48The New Temple, New Worship, and the Return of God's Glory
Major themes
The Glory and Holiness of the LORD
From the throne-chariot in chapter 1 to the return of the divine glory to the temple at the end, God repeatedly displays His transcendent holiness and calls His people to be set apart.
Judgment and Justice
The prophet pronounces judgment on Jerusalem, the nations, and the temple, because sin has reached its full measure and God will act according to His righteousness.
Identity and Obedience of the Prophet
God gives visions, words, and strange signs (such as swallowing the scroll, lying on his side 390 days) to shape Ezekiel as a watchman for the house of Israel.
Restoration and the New Covenant Promise
After judgment, God promises to give a new heart and new spirit, revive the dry bones, rebuild the temple, and cause life-giving waters to flow again.
Shepherding and Individual Responsibility
Chapter 34 condemns the false shepherds; the LORD Himself becomes the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost, and each person is judged according to his own deeds.
The Fate of the Nations and God's Sovereignty
Chapters 25–32 address Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt, showing that all nations are under the sovereign rule of God.
How it points to Christ
Ezekiel foreshadows Christ in multiple ways: He is the Good Shepherd and the Davidic descendant (Ezek 34:23) and the center of the visions of the Glory of the Lord; His Spirit revives the dead bones (ch. 37), pointing to new life for sinners; the new covenant of cleansing water and new spirit (36:25–27) is fulfilled in Him; and the life-giving river flowing from the temple (ch. 47) points to the outpouring of the Spirit and the river of life in the new creation (cf. Rev 22:1).
Key verses
- 1:28Ezekiel's inaugural vision of the glory of the LORD establishes the book's central theme: divine glory that departs will also return.
- 3:17The watchman mandate defines Ezekiel's prophetic role: to warn the wicked faithfully, with personal responsibility for the warning given.
- 11:19God promises to give a new heart and a new spirit—a prophetic anticipation of the inward renewal later fulfilled in the new covenant.
- 18:31A call to make yourselves a new heart and spirit, grounding Ezekiel's theology of personal repentance and divine justice.
- 36:26–27The climactic restoration promise: God Himself removes the heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh, and puts His Spirit within.
- 37:14The valley of dry bones receives life when God's Spirit comes—prophesying the eschatological resurrection and restoration of God's people.
- 43:2The glory of the LORD returns to the new temple—the literary climax that resolves the departure seen in chs. 9–11.
- 48:35The city is named 'The LORD Is There,' fulfilling the book's theology that God's presence is the goal of all redemption.
People in this book
Questions for reflection
- ·How does the manifestation of God's glory in Ezekiel's vision shape your awareness of God's presence today?
- ·How does God's word, 'Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked?' (Ezek 18:23), challenge your view of repentance and mercy?
- ·How does the vision of the valley of dry bones (ch. 37) encourage you to declare God's power in situations that seem hopeless?
- ·'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you' (36:26)—how does this promise motivate you to seek daily renewal by the Spirit?
- ·If the watchman does not warn the wicked, he is held accountable (3:18)—what does this say about believers watching over one another today?
Where Ezekiel fits in the Bible's storyline
This book appears in the 12-stop storyline at:
Where to start reading the Bible? See the full 12-stop storyline
Want to read Ezekiel start to finish? Open the reader for parallel Chinese/English text and ask anything as you go.
Start reading EzekielEzekiel
Chapter 41
1And he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.
2And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.
3Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.
4And he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
5Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
6And the side - chambers were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side-chambers round about, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house.
7And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest chamber to the highest by the middle chamber.
8I saw also that the house had a raised basement round about: the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.
9The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chambers, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that belonged to the house.
10And between the chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
11And the doors of the side-chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.
12And the building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.
13So he measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, a hundred cubits long;
14also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits.
15And he measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at the back thereof, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, a hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
16the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the threshold, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),
17to the space above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.
18And it was made with cherubim and palm-trees; and a palm-tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;
19so that there was the face of a man toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm-tree on the other side. thus was it made through all the house round about:
20from the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm-trees made; thus was the wall of the temple.
21As for the temple, the door-posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance thereof was as the appearance of the temple.
22The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before Jehovah.
23And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
24And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other.
25And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a threshold of wood upon the face of the porch without.
26And there were closed windows and palm-trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side-chambers of the house, and the thresholds.
