Day 59 of 90

¹Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the Lord's house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

²He said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;

³who say, 'The time is not near to build houses: this is the caldron, and we are the meat.'

⁴Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man."

⁵The Spirit of the Lord fell on me, and he said to me, "Speak, Thus says the Lord: 'Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

⁶You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.'

⁷Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this is the caldron; but you shall be brought out of its midst.

⁸You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,' says the Lord God.

⁹'I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

¹⁰You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹¹This shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel;

¹²and you shall know that I am the Lord: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.'"

¹³It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

¹⁴The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁵"Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us for a possession.'

¹⁶Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come."'

¹⁷Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."

¹⁸They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all its abominations from there.

¹⁹I 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;

²⁰that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

²¹But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads,' says the Lord God."

²²Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

²³The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

²⁴The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

²⁵Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that the Lord had shown me.

¹The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and do not see, who have ears to hear, and do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

³Therefore, you son of man, prepare your stuff for moving, and move by day in their sight; and you shall move from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

⁴You shall bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for moving; and you shall go forth yourself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.

⁵Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your stuff out that way.

⁶In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you do not see the land: for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel."

⁷I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸In the morning came the word of the Lord to me, saying,

⁹"Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

¹⁰Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.'

¹¹Say, 'I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.'

¹²"The prince who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.

¹³My net also will I spread on him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.

¹⁴I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

¹⁵They shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.

¹⁶But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and they shall know that I am the Lord."

¹⁷Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁸"Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness;

¹⁹and tell the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.

²⁰The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"

²¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²²"Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, 'The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?'

²³Tell them therefore, 'Thus says the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel'; but tell them, 'The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.

²⁴For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

²⁵For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it,' says the Lord God."

²⁶Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁷"Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.'

²⁸Therefore tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: None of my words shall be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord God.'"

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the Lord:

³Thus says the Lord God, "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

⁴Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

⁵You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord."

⁶They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, "The Lord says"; but the Lord has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.

⁷"Haven't you seen a false vision, and haven't you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, "The Lord says"; but I have not spoken?

⁸Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, says the Lord God.

⁹My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, 'Peace'; and there is no peace; and when one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash:

¹¹tell those who plaster it with whitewash, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it.

¹²Behold, when the wall has fallen, shall it not be said to you, 'Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?'

¹³"'"Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.

¹⁴So will I break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in its midst: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁵Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have plastered it with whitewash; and I will tell you, 'The wall is no more, neither those who plastered it;

¹⁶to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,'"' says the Lord God."

¹⁷"You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them,

¹⁸and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves?

¹⁹You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies."

²⁰"'Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls whom you hunt to make them fly.

²¹Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

²²Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive:

²³Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the Lord."'"

¹Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.

²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

⁴Therefore speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;

⁵that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols."'

⁶"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Return, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I the Lord will answer him by myself:

⁸and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹"'"If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

¹⁰They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks him;

¹¹that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God," says the Lord God.'"

¹²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹³"Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;

¹⁴though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord God."

¹⁵"If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals;

¹⁶though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord God, "they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

¹⁷"Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land'; so that I cut off from it man and animal;

¹⁸though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

¹⁹"Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;

²⁰though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹"For thus says the Lord God: 'How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!

²²Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.

²³They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it,' says the Lord God."

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?

³Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? Or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

⁴Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work?

⁵Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

⁶"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁷I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.

⁸I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass,' says the Lord God."

¹Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;

³and say, 'Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.

⁴As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

⁵No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.

⁶"'When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, "Though you are in your blood, live."

⁷I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.

⁸"'Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,' says the Lord God, 'and you became mine.

⁹"'Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

¹⁰I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I dressed you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk.

¹¹I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.

¹²I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

¹³Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.

¹⁴Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,' says the Lord God.

¹⁵"'But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.

¹⁶You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

¹⁷You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them;

¹⁸and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them.

¹⁹My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and thus it was,' says the Lord God.

²⁰"'Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,

²¹that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them?

²²In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.

²³"'It has happened after all your wickedness, ("Woe, woe to you!" says the Lord God),

²⁴that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street.

²⁵You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.

²⁶You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.

²⁷See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

²⁸You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.

²⁹You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.

³⁰"'How weak is your heart, says the Lord God, since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;

³¹in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.

³²"'A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband!

³³They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.

³⁴You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.'

³⁵"Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord:

³⁶Thus says the Lord God, 'Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;

³⁷therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

³⁸I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

³⁹I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.

⁴⁰They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.

⁴¹They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.

⁴²So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

⁴³"'Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head,' says the Lord God: 'and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.

⁴⁴"'Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, "As is the mother, so is her daughter."

⁴⁵You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

⁴⁷Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

⁴⁸As I live,' says the Lord God, 'Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.

⁴⁹"'Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

⁵⁰They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

⁵¹Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.

⁵²You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.

⁵³"'I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in their midst;

⁵⁴that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.

⁵⁵Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.

⁵⁶For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,

⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around.

⁵⁸You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.'

⁵⁹"For thus says the Lord God: 'I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

⁶⁰Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.

⁶¹Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.

⁶²I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the Lord;

⁶³that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord God.'"

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

³and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

⁴he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

⁵He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.

⁶It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

⁷'"There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.

⁸It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine."'

⁹"Say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? And not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots.

¹⁰Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew."'"

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹²"Say now to the rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon:

¹³and he took of the royal family, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;

¹⁴that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

¹⁵But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

¹⁶"'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

¹⁷Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.

¹⁸For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.'

¹⁹"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.

²⁰I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.

²¹All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it.'

²²"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain:

²³in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

²⁴All the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.'"

¹The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

²"What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?'

³As I live, says the Lord God, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

⁴Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.

⁵"But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,

⁶and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,

⁷and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

⁸he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,

⁹has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live," says the Lord God.

¹⁰"If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things,

¹¹and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,

¹²has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,

¹³has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.

¹⁴"Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;

¹⁵who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

¹⁶neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

¹⁷who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

¹⁸As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.

¹⁹"Yet you say, 'Why doesn't the son bear the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.

²⁰The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.

²¹"But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

²²None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.

²³Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?" says the Lord God; "and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?

²⁴But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.

²⁵"'Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not equal." Hear now, house of Israel: "Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?"

²⁶When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.

²⁷Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

²⁸Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

²⁹Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not fair." "House of Israel, aren't my ways fair? Aren't your ways unfair?"

³⁰"'Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,' says the Lord God. 'Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

³¹Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

³²For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,' says the Lord God: 'therefore turn yourselves, and live.'"

¹"Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

²and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁴The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

⁵"'Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.

⁶He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁷He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring.

⁸Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

⁹They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰"'Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

¹¹It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

¹²But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule.' This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."

¹It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.

²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you."'

⁴Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

⁵and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, 'I am the Lord your God';

⁶in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

⁷I said to them, 'Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.'

⁸But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they each didn't throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰"'"So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.

¹²Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

¹⁴But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

¹⁵"'"Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

¹⁶because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

¹⁷Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸"'"I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

¹⁹I am the Lord your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;

²⁰and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'

²¹But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

²²Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.

²³Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;

²⁴because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

²⁵Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;

²⁶and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."'

²⁷"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

²⁸For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.

²⁹Then I said to them, 'What does the high place where you go mean?' So its name is called Bamah to this day."'

³⁰"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you play the prostitute after their abominations?

³¹And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you;

³²and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, 'We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.'

³³As I live," says the Lord God, "surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:

³⁴and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

³⁵and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

³⁶Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you," says the Lord God.

³⁷"I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

³⁸and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord."

³⁹"'As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: "Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

⁴⁰For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel," says the Lord God, "there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

⁴¹As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.

⁴²You shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

⁴³There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.

⁴⁴You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel," says the Lord God.'"

⁴⁵The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁴⁶"Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

⁴⁷and tell the forest of the South, 'Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.

⁴⁸All flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."'"

⁴⁹Then I said, "Ah Lord God! They say of me, 'Isn't he a speaker of parables?'"

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

³and tell the land of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more."'

⁶"Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes.

⁷It shall be, when they tell you, 'Why do you sigh?' that you shall say, 'Because of the news, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord God.'"

⁸The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁹"Son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord: Say, "A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;

¹⁰it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? The rod of my son, it condemns every tree.

¹¹It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer."'

¹²Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.

¹³For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that condemns shall be no more?" says the Lord God.

¹⁴"You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their rooms.

¹⁵I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: Ah! It is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter.

¹⁶'Gather yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.'

¹⁷I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, the Lord, have spoken it."

¹⁸The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

¹⁹"Also, you son of man, appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem, the fortified.

²¹For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.

²²In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.

²³It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.

²⁴"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵"'You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,

²⁶thus says the Lord God: "Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high."

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.'

²⁸"You, son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, "A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;

²⁹while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you.

³¹I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy.

³²You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be remembered no more: for I, the Lord, have spoken it."'"

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.

³You shall say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!

⁴You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.

⁵Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one and full of tumult.

⁶"'"Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

⁷In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

⁸You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

⁹Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.

¹⁰In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.

¹¹One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

¹²In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,' says the Lord God.

¹³"'"Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.

¹⁴Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken it, and will do it.

¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.

¹⁶You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord."'"

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁸"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.

²¹Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.

²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my wrath on you.'"

²³The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁴"Son of man, tell her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.'

²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst.

²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

²⁸Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.

³⁰"I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

³¹Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord God."

¹The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

²"Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

³and they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.

⁴Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

⁵"Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,

⁶who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.

⁷She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.

⁹Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.

¹⁰These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.

¹¹"Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister.

¹²She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

¹³I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.

¹⁴She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

¹⁵dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

¹⁶As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.

¹⁷The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

¹⁸So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt.

²⁰She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

²¹Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.

²²"Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side:

²³the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.

²⁴They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

²⁵I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire.

²⁶They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels.

²⁷Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

²⁸"'For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;

²⁹and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.

³⁰These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.

³¹You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.'

³²"Thus says the Lord God: 'You will drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much.

³³You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

³⁴You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it,' says the Lord God.

³⁵"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.'"

³⁶The Lord said moreover to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

³⁷For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured.

³⁸Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

³⁹For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.

⁴⁰"'Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments,

⁴¹and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.'

⁴²The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands twain, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, 'Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she with them.'

⁴⁴They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.

⁴⁵Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

⁴⁶"For thus says the Lord God: 'I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.

⁴⁷The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

⁴⁸'Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

⁴⁹They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord God.'"

¹Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, write the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day.

³Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:

⁴gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

⁵Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the caldron; make it boil well; yes, let its bones be boiled in its midst."'

⁶"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen on it.

⁷For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.

⁸That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.'

⁹"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.

¹⁰Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.

¹¹Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its brass may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed.

¹²She has wearied herself with toil; yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her; her rust doesn't go forth by fire.

¹³In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.

¹⁴I, the Lord, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you,' says the Lord God."

¹⁵Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁶"Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.

¹⁷Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your lips, and do not eat men's bread."

¹⁸So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

¹⁹The people said to me, "Won't you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?"

²⁰Then I said to them, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²¹'Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.

²²You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

²³Your turbans shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.

²⁴Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God."'"

²⁵"You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?

²⁷In that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so you will be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord."