'City' in the Bible

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

You are to burn up a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended; you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, for I will draw a sword to chase after them.

The sword is on the outside;plague and famine are on the inside.Whoever is in the field will die by the sword,and famine and plague will devourwhoever is in the city.

Forge the chain,for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed,and the city is filled with violence.

Then He called to me directly with a loud voice, “Come near, executioners of the city, each of you with a destructive weapon in his hand.”

“Pass throughout the city of Jerusalem,” the Lord said to him, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the detestable practices committed in it.”

He spoke as I listened to the others, “Pass through the city after him and start killing; do not show pity or spare them!

Then He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out killing people in the city.

He answered me: “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; He does not see.’

The Lord spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with hot coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” So he went in as I watched.

The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plan evil and give wicked advice in this city.

They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses? The city is the pot, and we are the meat.’

You have multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with the dead.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: The slain you have put within it are the meat, and the city is the pot, but I will remove you from it.

“I will bring you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners; I will execute judgments against you.

The city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel,

The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stood on the mountain east of the city.

I will tear down the wall you plastered with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

He plucked off its topmost shoot,brought it to the land of merchants,and set it in a city of traders.

“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon’s king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city.

“As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her.

You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood within her walls so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled!

Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My fury, and you will be melted within the city.

As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you.”

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:Woe to the city of bloodshed,the pot that has rust inside it,and whose rust will not come off!Empty it piece by piece;lots should not be cast for its contents.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:Woe to the city of bloodshed!I Myself will make the pile of kindling large.

His horses will be so numerous that their dust will cover you. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.

Then they will lament for you and say of you:How you have perished, city of renown,you who were populated from the seas!She who was powerful on the sea,she and all of her inhabitantsinflicted their terror.

For this is what the Lord God says: “When I make you a ruined city like other deserted cities, when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you,

The day will be dark in Tehaphnehes,when I break the yoke of Egypt thereand its proud strengthcomes to an end in the city.A cloud will cover Tehaphnehes,and its villages will go into captivity.

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”

“Now, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One person speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear what the message is that comes from the Lord!’

There will even be a city named Hamonah there. So they will cleanse the land.

In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On its southern slope was a structure resembling a city.

The vision I saw was like the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal. I fell facedown.

“As the property of the city, you must set aside an area 1⅔ of a mile wide and 8⅓ miles long, adjacent to the holy donation of land. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

“The remaining area, 1⅔ of a mile wide and 8⅓ miles long, will be for common use by the city, for both residential and open space. The city will be in the middle of it.

“The remainder of the length alongside the holy donation will be 3⅓ miles to the east and 3⅓ miles to the west. It will run alongside the holy donation. Its produce will be food for the workers of the city.

The entire donation will be 8⅓ miles by 8⅓ miles; you are to set apart the holy donation along with the city property as a square area.

“The remaining area on both sides of the holy donation and the city property will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, next to the 8⅓ miles of the donation as far as the eastern border and next to the 8⅓ miles of the donation as far as the western border. The holy donation and the sanctuary of the temple will be in the middle of it.

Except for the Levitical property and the city property in the middle of the area belonging to the prince, the area between the territory of Judah and that of Benjamin will belong to the prince.

“These are the exits of the city:On the north side, which measures 1½ miles,

there will be three gates facing north, the gates of the city being named for the tribes of Israel: one, the gate of Reuben; one, the gate of Judah; and one, the gate of Levi.

The perimeter of the city will be six miles, and the name of the city from that day on will be: Yahweh Is There.”