(2.) viii. to xi.—In the sixth year, on the sixth day of the fifth month, in the presence of the elders of Judah, Ezekiel is carried in a prophetic vision to Jerusalem, is shown there the sins committed by the Israelites in the very Temple, and the consequent departure of the Divine Presence from the Temple. Israel will suffer for his sins, but will at last repent and improve. God promises, “I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (xi. 19, 20). (3.) xii. and xiii.—The prophet indicates the coming captivity by the symbolic act of preparing the things necessary for going into exile. The false prophets and prophetesses, who tell the people to have no dread of any coming exile, will be disappointed and punished. The falsehood of the proverb, “In the length of time every vision faileth,” will then be evident. (4.) xiv. to xix.—Ezekiel describes the sinfulness of Israel, and exhorts them to return to God, or else the threatened calamity will overcome them. He illustrates the approaching calamity by the figure of a cedar-tree and the eagle. Although the fathers have sinned, if the sons abstain from sinning they may prevent the catastrophe; for the proverb, “The fathers have eaten the sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge,” will prove untrue. If they do not improve, the catastrophe must take place which the prophet depicts in the parables of the lioness caught and of the vine consumed by fire. (5.) xx.—In the seventh year, the Elders of Israel came to Ezekiel “to inquire of the Lord,” ‏לדרש את ה‎. Ezekiel describes the wickedness of Israel, and the punishment they deserved. (6.) xxi. to xxiii.—Comparing Jerusalem and Samaria to two sisters, Oholibah and Oholah, he complains that the former, having witnessed the punishment of the latter, has not profited by it. (7.) xxiv.—On the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year Ezekiel prophesies the siege and fall of Jerusalem on the very day on which the siege commenced. The greatness of the calamity, to express which the usual outward signs of grief would be inadequate, is indicated by the Divine command that the prophet on the death of his wife should exhibit no signs of mourning. (8.) xxv. to xxxii.—Like Isaiah and Jeremiah, he foretells the fate of the neighbouring nations, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Tyrians, and Egyptians. The last-named are promised recovery after forty years’ desolation of their country.