Ezekiel 13-18

New Living Translation

Judgment against False Prophets

13 Then this message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. ³ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’

⁴ “O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins. ⁵ They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶ Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ even though the Lord never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies! ⁷ Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ when I have not even spoken to you?

⁸ “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign Lord. ⁹ I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰ “This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash! ¹¹ Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down. ¹² And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, ‘What happened to your whitewash?’

¹³ “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will sweep away your whitewashed wall with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of fury. ¹⁴ I will break down your wall right to its foundation, and when it falls, it will crush you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ At last my anger against the wall and those who covered it with whitewash will be satisfied. Then I will say to you: ‘The wall and those who whitewashed it are both gone. ¹⁶ They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’

Judgment against False Women Prophets

¹⁷ “Now, son of man, speak out against the women who prophesy from their own imaginations. ¹⁸ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits you women who are ensnaring the souls of my people, young and old alike. You tie magic charms on their wrists and furnish them with magic veils. Do you think you can trap others without bringing destruction on yourselves? ¹⁹ You bring shame on me among my people for a few handfuls of barley or a piece of bread. By lying to my people who love to listen to lies, you kill those who should not die, and you promise life to those who should not live.

²⁰ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against all your magic charms, which you use to ensnare my people like birds. I will tear them from your arms, setting my people free like birds set free from a cage. ²¹ I will tear off the magic veils and save my people from your grasp. They will no longer be your victims. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ²² You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins. ²³ Because of all this, you will no longer talk of seeing visions that you never saw, nor will you make predictions. For I will rescue my people from your grasp. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

The Idolatry of Israel’s Leaders

14 Then some of the leaders of Israel visited me, and while they were sitting with me, ² this message came to me from the Lord: ³ “Son of man, these leaders have set up idols^[a] in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests? ⁴ Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts and fallen into sin, and then they go to a prophet asking for a message. So I, the Lord, will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves. ⁵ I will do this to capture the minds and hearts of all my people who have turned from me to worship their detestable idols.’

⁶ “Therefore, tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent and turn away from your idols, and stop all your detestable sins. ⁷ I, the Lord, will answer all those, both Israelites and foreigners, who reject me and set up idols in their hearts and so fall into sin, and who then come to a prophet asking for my advice. ⁸ I will turn against such people and make a terrible example of them, eliminating them from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “‘And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel. ¹⁰ False prophets and those who seek their guidance will all be punished for their sins. ¹¹ In this way, the people of Israel will learn not to stray from me, polluting themselves with sin. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’”

The Certainty of the Lord’s Judgment

¹² Then this message came to me from the Lord: ¹³ “Son of man, suppose the people of a country were to sin against me, and I lifted my fist to crush them, cutting off their food supply and sending a famine to destroy both people and animals. ¹⁴ Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves, says the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵ “Or suppose I were to send wild animals to invade the country, kill the people, and make the land too desolate and dangerous to pass through. ¹⁶ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be made desolate.

¹⁷ “Or suppose I were to bring war against the land, and I sent enemy armies to destroy both people and animals. ¹⁸ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.

¹⁹ “Or suppose I were to pour out my fury by sending an epidemic into the land, and the disease killed people and animals alike. ²⁰ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved by their righteousness.

²¹ “Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How terrible it will be when all four of these dreadful punishments fall upon Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease—destroying all her people and animals. ²² Yet there will be survivors, and they will come here to join you as exiles in Babylon. You will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and then you will feel better about what I have done to Jerusalem. ²³ When you meet them and see their behavior, you will understand that these things are not being done to Israel without cause. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Jerusalem—a Useless Vine

15 Then this message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? ³ Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? ⁴ No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. ⁵ Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!

⁶ “And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have thrown them on the fire to be burned. ⁷ And I will see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸ And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Jerusalem—an Unfaithful Wife

16 Then another message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. ³ Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. ⁵ No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.

⁶ “But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ ⁷ And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. ⁸ And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

⁹ “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. ¹⁰ I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. ¹¹ I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, ¹² a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. ¹³ And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! ¹⁴ Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵ “But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. ¹⁶ You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? ¹⁷ You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me! ¹⁸ You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. ¹⁹ Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.

²⁰ “Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹ Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? ²² In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.

²³ “What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, ²⁴ you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. ²⁵ On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution. ²⁶ Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity. ²⁷ That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct. ²⁸ You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied. ²⁹ You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia,^[b] the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.

³⁰ “What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute. ³¹ You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. ³² Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. ³³ Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. ³⁴ So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!

Judgment on Jerusalem’s Prostitution

³⁵ “Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the Lord! ³⁶ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols,^[c] and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods, ³⁷ this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies—the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you. ³⁸ I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury. ³⁹ Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked. ⁴⁰ They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords. ⁴¹ They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.

⁴² “Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. ⁴³ But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign Lord. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins. ⁴⁴ Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵ For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶ “Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. ⁴⁷ But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption. ⁴⁸ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. ⁴⁹ Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. ⁵⁰ She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.^[d]

⁵¹ “Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you. ⁵² Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.

⁵³ “But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. ⁵⁴ Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. ⁵⁵ Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. ⁵⁶ In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. ⁵⁷ But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom^[e] and all her neighbors and by Philistia. ⁵⁸ This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the Lord.

⁵⁹ “Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. ⁶⁰ Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹ Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. ⁶² And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶³ You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

A Story of Two Eagles

17 Then this message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, give this riddle, and tell this story to the people of Israel. ³ Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord:

The Riddle Explained

¹¹ Then this message came to me from the Lord: ¹² “Say to these rebels of Israel: Don’t you understand the meaning of this riddle of the eagles? The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took away her king and princes, and brought them to Babylon. ¹³ He made a treaty with a member of the royal family and forced him to take an oath of loyalty. He also exiled Israel’s most influential leaders, ¹⁴ so Israel would not become strong again and revolt. Only by keeping her treaty with Babylon could Israel survive.

¹⁵ “Nevertheless, this man of Israel’s royal family rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to request a great army and many horses. Can Israel break her sworn treaties like that and get away with it? ¹⁶ No! For as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, the king of Israel will die in Babylon, the land of the king who put him in power and whose treaty he disregarded and broke. ¹⁷ Pharaoh and all his mighty army will fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and destroys many lives. ¹⁸ For the king of Israel disregarded his treaty and broke it after swearing to obey; therefore, he will not escape.

¹⁹ “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will punish him for breaking my covenant and disregarding the solemn oath he made in my name. ²⁰ I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and put him on trial for this treason against me. ²¹ And all his best warriors^[f] will be killed in battle, and those who survive will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

²² “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. ²³ It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”

The Justice of a Righteous God

18 Then another message came to me from the Lord: ² “Why do you quote this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste’? ³ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb anymore in Israel. ⁴ For all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.

⁵ “Suppose a certain man is righteous and does what is just and right. ⁶ He does not feast in the mountains before Israel’s idols^[g] or worship them. He does not commit adultery or have intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period. ⁷ He is a merciful creditor, not keeping the items given as security by poor debtors. He does not rob the poor but instead gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for the needy. ⁸ He grants loans without interest, stays away from injustice, is honest and fair when judging others, ⁹ and faithfully obeys my decrees and regulations. Anyone who does these things is just and will surely live, says the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰ “But suppose that man has a son who grows up to be a robber or murderer and refuses to do what is right. ¹¹ And that son does all the evil things his father would never do—he worships idols on the mountains, commits adultery, ¹² oppresses the poor and helpless, steals from debtors by refusing to let them redeem their security, worships idols, commits detestable sins, ¹³ and lends money at excessive interest. Should such a sinful person live? No! He must die and must take full blame.

¹⁴ “But suppose that sinful son, in turn, has a son who sees his father’s wickedness and decides against that kind of life. ¹⁵ This son refuses to worship idols on the mountains and does not commit adultery. ¹⁶ He does not exploit the poor, but instead is fair to debtors and does not rob them. He gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for the needy. ¹⁷ He helps the poor,^[h] does not lend money at interest, and obeys all my regulations and decrees. Such a person will not die because of his father’s sins; he will surely live. ¹⁸ But the father will die for his many sins—for being cruel, robbing people, and doing what was clearly wrong among his people.

¹⁹ “‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?’ No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. ²⁰ The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. ²¹ But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. ²² All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.

²³ “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. ²⁴ However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you? ²⁶ When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. ²⁷ And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. ²⁸ They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. ²⁹ And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.

³⁰ “Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! ³¹ Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? ³² I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!