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Literary structure (chiasmus, chiasm) of Book of Ezekiel

Chiasmus and Concentric Structure of divided by 2


2-1

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)
Former halfRelationLatter half
1 The calling of Ezekiel (1:1-3:15)
2:4Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD! 2:5 And whether they heed or resist--for they are a rebellious house--they shall know that a prophet has been among them.
Speak to people of Israel25 Ezekiel's bereavement (24:15-27)
24:27that day your mouth shall be opened and you shall be dumb no longer. Thus you shall be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
2 Ezekiel at the river Chebar (3:16-27)
3:19If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.
Warning and judgment24 The boiling pot (24:1-14)
24:13Because you have sullied yourself with lewdness when I would have purified you, and you refused to be purified of your uncleanness, therefore you shall not be purified until I wreak my fury on you. 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken; it is coming, for I will bring it about without fail. I will not have pity nor repent. By your conduct and your deeds you shall be judged, says the Lord GOD.
3 Defiled bread (4:1-15)
Sin of Judah and Israel
Israel and Judah23 Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-49)
Sin of Jerusalem and Samaria
4 Hair and beard (4:16-5:17)
5:8 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See, I am coming at you! I will inflict punishments in your midst while the nations look on.(5:8)
Judgement on Jerusalem22 The blood city (22:1-31)
22:2 You, son of man, would you judge, would you judge the bloody city? Then make known all her abominations, (22:2)
5 Judgment on idolatrous Israel (6:1-14)
6:3Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD (to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys): See, I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.
A sword is coming21 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.
6 Impending disaster (7:1-27)
7:15The sword is outside; pestilence and hunger are within. He that is in the country shall die by the sword; pestilence and famine shall devour those in the city.
Judgment by the sword20 The sword is doubled and tripled (21:13-22)
21:17 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is destined for my people; It is for all the princes of Israel, victims of the sword with my people.
7 Abominations in the temple (8:1-18)
8:5He said to me: Son of man, look toward the north! I looked toward the north and saw northward of the gate the altar of the statue of jealousy.
North19 The drawn sword of God (21:1-12)
21:3The blazing flame shall not be quenched, but from south to north every face shall be scorched by it.
8 The slaughter of the idolaters (9:1-11)
9:4Pass through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it.
Marked person18 Israel's continuing rebellion (20:1-44)
20:12I also gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, to show that it was I, the LORD, who made them holy.
9 God's glory leaves Jerusalem (10:1-22)
10:14Each had four faces: the first face was that of an ox, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.
Lion17 Israel degraded (19:1-14)
19:2What a lioness was your mother, a lion of lions! Among young lions she couched to rear her whelps.
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,
New heart and spirit16 Individual retribution (18:1-32)
18:31Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
11 Judah's captivity portrayed (12:1-28)
12:13But I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans--but he shall not see it--and there he shall die.
Spread net and captivity15 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.
12 False prophets condemned (13:1-23)
13:23therefore you shall no longer see false visions and practice divination, but I will rescue my people from your power.
Salvation by the LORD14 God's faithless bride (16:1-63)
16:53I will restore their fortunes, the fortune of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters (and I will restore your fortune along with them),

2-2

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
25 Ezekiel's bereavement (24:15-27)
24:21I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride, the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
Desecrated / sacred sanctuary49 The new boundaries of the land (47:13-48:34)
48:21The sacred tract and the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the middle.
26 Proclamation against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia (25:1-17)
25:4therefore I will deliver you into the possession of the Easterners.
East48 Water flowing from the temple (46:19-47:12)
47:1and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
27 Proclamation against Tyre and Sidon (26:1-28:26)
28:2Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are haughty of heart, you say, "A god am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!"-- And yet you are a man, and not a god, however you may think yourself like a god.
Prince47 Festivals and offerings (45:10-46:18)
45:17It shall be the duty of the prince to provide the holocausts, cereal offerings, and libations on the feasts, new moons, and sabbaths, on all the festivals of the house of Israel. He shall offer the sin offerings, cereal offerings, holocausts, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.
28 Proclamation against Egypt (29:1-16)
29:15of kingdoms, never more to set itself above the nations. I will make them few, that they may not dominate the nations.
End of oppression46 The holy district (45:1-9)
45:8This shall be his property in Israel, so that the princes of Israel will no longer oppress my people, but will leave the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
29 Babylonia will plunder Egypt (29:17-30:19)
30:13I will put an end to the great ones of Memphis and the princes of the land of Egypt, that they may be no more.
Sin of 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.
30 Proclamation against Pharaoh (30:20-26)
30:22See! I am coming at Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. I will break his strong arm, so that the sword drops from his hand.
King44 The divine glory returns to the temple (43:1-44:3)
43:7here I will dwell among the Israelites forever. Never again shall they and their kings profane my holy name with their harlotries and with the corpses of their kings (their high places).
31 The lofty cedar (31:1-18)
31:16At the crash of his fall I made the nations rock, when I cast him down to the nether world with those who go down into the pit. In the land below, all Eden's trees were consoled, Lebanon's choice and best, all that were fed by water.
Restoration of God's place43 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. On it there seemed to be a city being built before me.
32 Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt (32:1-16)
32:4I will leave you on the land; on the open field I will cast you. I will have all the birds of the air alight on you, and all the beasts of the earth eat their fill of you.
Eaten by wild beast42 Invasion by Gog (38:1-39:29)
39:4Upon the mountains of Israel you shall fall, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you. To birds of prey of every kind and to the wild beasts I am giving you to be eaten.
33 Dirge over Egypt (32:17-32)
32:18Son of man, lament over the throngs of Egypt, for the mighty nations have thrust them down to the bottom of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.
Being with dead / God41 The two sticks (37:15-28)
37:26I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and 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.
34 Ezekiel Israel's sentry (33:1-20)
33:11Answer them: As I live, says the Lord GOD, I 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?
Deadly person is made alive40 The valley of dry bones (37:1-14)
37:5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life.
35 The fall of Jerusalem (33:21-33)
33:25You eat on the mountains, you raise your eyes to your idols, you shed blood--yet you would keep possession of the land?
Losing a land because of idolatry39 The renewal of Israel (36:16-38)
36:18Therefore I poured out my fury upon them (because of the blood which they poured out on the ground, and because they defiled it with idols). 36:19 I scattered them among the nations, dispersing them over foreign lands; according to their conduct and deeds I judged them.
36 Israel's false shepherds (34:1-10)
34:4You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
Person who oppresses the weak38 Judgment on Mount Seir (35:1-36:15)
35:5Because you never let die your hatred for the Israelites, whom you delivered over to the power of the sword at the time of their trouble, when their crimes came to an end,

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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