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Literary structure (chiasmus, chiasm) of Book of Ezekiel

Chiasmus and Concentric Structure of whole text


1-1

1 The calling of Ezekiel (1:1-3:15)
  2 Ezekiel at the river Chebar (3:16-27)
    3 Defiled bread (4:1-15)
      4 Hair and beard (4:16-5:17)
        5 Judgment on idolatrous Israel (6:1-14)
          6 Impending disaster (7:1-27)
            7 Abominations in the temple (8:1-18)
              8 The slaughter of the idolaters (9:1-11)
                9 God's glory leaves Jerusalem (10:1-22)
                  10 God will restore Israel (11:1-25)
                    11 Judah's captivity portrayed (12:1-28)
                      12 False prophets condemned (13:1-23)
                        13 God's judgment justified (14:1-15:8)
                          14 God's faithless bride (16:1-63)
                            15 The two eagles and the vine (17:1-24)
                              16 Individual retribution (18:1-32)
                                17 Israel degraded (19:1-14)
                                  18 Israel's continuing rebellion (20:1-44)
                                    19 The drawn sword of God (21:1-12)
                                      20 The sword is doubled and tripled (21:13-22)
                                        21 Road of the sword (21:23-37)
                                          22 The blood city (22:1-31)
                                            23 Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-49)
                                              24 The boiling pot (24:1-14)
                                                25 Ezekiel's bereavement (24:15-27)
                                              26 Proclamation against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia (25:1-17)
                                            27 Proclamation against Tyre and Sidon (26:1-28:26)
                                          28 Proclamation against Egypt (29:1-16)
                                        29 Babylonia will plunder Egypt (29:17-30:19)
                                      30 Proclamation against Pharaoh (30:20-26)
                                    31 The lofty cedar (31:1-18)
                                  32 Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt (32:1-16)
                                33 Dirge over Egypt (32:17-32)
                              34 Ezekiel Israel's sentry (33:1-20)
                            35 The fall of Jerusalem (33:21-33)
                          36 Israel's false shepherds (34:1-10)
                        37 God, the true shepherd (34:11-31)
                      38 Judgment on Mount Seir (35:1-36:15)
                    39 The renewal of Israel (36:16-38)
                  40 The valley of dry bones (37:1-14)
                41 The two sticks (37:15-28)
              42 Invasion by Gog (38:1-39:29)
            43 The vision of the new temple (40:1-42:20)
          44 The divine glory returns to the temple (43:1-44:3)
        45 The Levitical priests (44:4-31)
      46 The holy district (45:1-9)
    47 Festivals and offerings (45:10-46:18)
  48 Water flowing from the temple (46:19-47:12)
49 The new boundaries of the land (47:13-48:34)
Former halfRelationLatter half
1 The calling of Ezekiel (1:1-3:15)
1:28Such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.
The place where LORD is49 The new boundaries of the land (47:13-48:34)
48:34 The name of the City shall henceforth be "The LORD is here."
2 Ezekiel at the river Chebar (3:16-27)
3:21When, on the other hand, you have warned a virtuous man not to sin, and he has in fact not sinned, he shall surely live because of the warning, and you shall save your own life.
Saving life48 Water flowing from the temple (46:19-47:12)
47:9Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
3 Defiled bread (4:1-15)
4:9 Again, take wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt; put them in a single vessel and make bread out of them. Eat it for as many days as you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety.(4:9)
Regulations about bread47 Festivals and offerings (45:10-46:18)
45:21 On the fourteenth day of the first month you shall observe the feast of the Passover; for seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten. (45:21)
4 Hair and beard (4:16-5:17)
5:11because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable abominations, I swear to cut you down.
Sanctuary and city46 The holy district (45:1-9)
45:3Also from this sector measure off a strip, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide, within which shall be the sanctuary, the holy of holies.
5 Judgment on idolatrous Israel (6:1-14)
6:4Your altars shall be laid waste, your incense stands shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain ones before your idols;
Idolatry45 The Levitical priests (44:4-31)
44:10But as for the Levites who departed from me when Israel strayed from me to pursue their idols, they shall bear the consequences of their sin.
6 Impending disaster (7:1-27)
7:3Now the end is upon you; I will unleash my anger against you and judge you according to your conduct and lay upon you the consequences of all your abominations.
Arrival of ruin44 The divine glory returns to the temple (43:1-44:3)
43:3The vision was like that which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like that which I had seen by the river Chebar.
7 Abominations in the temple (8:1-18)
8:3Spirit lifted me up in the air and brought me in divine visions to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where stood the statue of jealousy which stirs up jealousy.
Being carried in divine visions43 The vision of the new temple (40:1-42:20)
40:2in divine visions to the land of Israel, where he set me down on a very high mountain.
8 The slaughter of the idolaters (9:1-11)
9:8Alas, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?"
Destroyed by wrath of God42 Invasion by Gog (38:1-39:29)
38:18But on that day, the day when Gog invades the land of Israel, says the Lord GOD, my fury shall be aroused.
9 God's glory leaves Jerusalem (10:1-22)
10:18Then the glory of the LORD left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim.
The LORD leaves / is with41 The two sticks (37:15-28)
37:26and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. 37:27 My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
10 God will restore Israel (11:1-25)
11:19I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart,
Giving flesh and spirit 40 The valley of dry bones (37:1-14)
37:6I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the LORD.
11 Judah's captivity portrayed (12:1-28)
12:19Then say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (to the land of Israel): They shall eat their bread in anxiety and drink their water in horror, that their land may be emptied of the violence of all its inhabitants that now fills it.
Famine / good harvest39 The renewal of Israel (36:16-38)
36:29I will order the grain to be abundant, and I will not send famine against you.
12 False prophets condemned (13:1-23)
13:20See! I am coming at those bands of yours in which you entrap men's lives: I will tear them from their arms and set free those you have caught. 13:21 I will tear off your veils and rescue my people from your power, so that they shall no longer be prey to your hands.
Saving people38 Judgment on Mount Seir (35:1-36:15)
36:13Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they have said of you, "You are a land that devours men, and you rob your people of their children"; 36:14 therefore, never again shall you devour men or rob your people of their children, says the Lord GOD.
12 False prophets condemned (13:1-23)
13:2Say to those who prophesy their own thought:
Insolent words38 Judgment on Mount Seir (35:1-36:15)
35:13I have heard the insolent and wild words you have spoken against me.
13 God's judgment justified (14:1-15:8)
14:15If I were to cause wild beasts to prowl the land, depopulating it so that it became a waste, traversed by none because of the wild beasts,
Sending / ridding wild beasts37 God, the true shepherd (34:11-31)
34:25I will make a covenant of peace with them, and rid the country of ravenous beasts, that they may dwell securely in the desert and sleep in the forests.
14 God's faithless bride (16:1-63)
16:41They shall burn your apartments with fire and inflict punishments on you while many women look on. Thus I will put an end to your harlotry, and you shall never again give payment.
Putting an end to evil36 Israel's false shepherds (34:1-10)
34:10I swear I am coming against these shepherds. I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer pasture themselves. I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths.
15 The two eagles and the vine (17:1-24)
17:20I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there over his breaking faith with me. 17:21 All the crack troops among his forces shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered in every direction.
Ruin caused by Babylon35 The fall of Jerusalem (33:21-33)
33:21On the fifth day of the tenth month, in the twelfth year of our exile, the fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and said, "The city is taken!"
16 Individual retribution (18:1-32)
18:23Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?
Repentance of evildoer34 Ezekiel Israel's sentry (33:1-20)
33:11I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, O house of Israel?
17 Israel degraded (19:1-14)
19:1As for you, son of man, raise a lamentation over the prince of Israel:
Ruin of princes33 Dirge over Egypt (32:17-32)
32:29There are Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who despite their might have been placed with those slain by the sword; with the uncircumcised they lie, and with those who go down into the pit.
18 Israel's continuing rebellion (20:1-44)
20:7Throw away, each of you, the detestable things that have held your eyes; do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt:
Sin of Egypt32 Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt (32:1-16)
32:2Son of man, utter a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, saying to him: Lion of the nations, you are destroyed.
19 The drawn sword of God (21:1-12)
21:3See! I am kindling a fire in you that shall devour all trees, the green as well as the dry. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, but from south to north every face shall be scorched by it.
Ruin of tree31 The lofty cedar (31:1-18)
31:12Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it on the mountains. Its foliage was brought low in all the valleys, its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the land withdrew from its shade, abandoning it.
20 The sword is doubled and tripled (21:13-22)
21:16I have given it over to the burnisher that he might hold it in his hand, A sword sharpened and burnished to be put in the hand of a slayer.
Sword is given30 Proclamation against Pharaoh (30:20-26)
30:24But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand,
21 Road of the sword (21:23-37)
21:24Son of man, make for yourself two roads over which the sword of the king of Babylon can come.
The LORD sends Babylonian king29 Babylonia will plunder Egypt (29:17-30:19)
29:19I am now giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He shall carry off its riches, plundering and pillaging it for the wages of his soldiers, who did it for me;
22 The blood city (22:1-31)
22:15I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you over foreign lands, so that I may purge your uncleanness.
Prophecy of captivity28 Proclamation against Egypt (29:1-16)
29:12and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and strew them over foreign lands.
23 Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-49)
23:4(As for their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.)
Devastation of cities27 Proclamation against Tyre and Sidon (26:1-28:26)
26:3See! I am coming at you, Tyre; I will churn up against you many nations, even as the sea churns up its waves;
23 Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-49)
23:32 You shall drink your sister's cup, deep and wide; you shall be scorned and derided, it holds so much. (NRSV)
Scorned Jerusalem27 Proclamation against Tyre and Sidon (26:1-28:26)
26:2 Son of man, because of what Tyre said of Jerusalem: "Aha! it is broken, the gateway to the peoples; now that it is ruined, its wealth reverts to me!"
24 The boiling pot (24:1-14)
24:2for this very day the king of Babylon has invested Jerusalem.
Devastation of the land of Israel26 Proclamation against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia (25:1-17)
25:3Because you cried out your joy over the desecration of my sanctuary, the devastation of the land of Israel, and the exile of the house of Judah,

Citations of the Bible are from New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible.

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Literary Structure of the Bible by Hajime Murai is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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