The Abominations of the Fathers of Israel

20 Now it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, that ^[a]some of the ^(A)elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me. ² And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ³ “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “^(B)I will not be inquired of by you.”’ ⁴ Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? ^(C)Make them know the abominations of their fathers ⁵ and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day when I ^(D)chose Israel and ^[b]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, ^(E)I am Yahweh your God, ⁶ on that day I swore to them, ^(F)to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had ^[c]selected for them, ^(G)flowing with milk and honey, which is ^(H)the glory of all lands. ⁷ I said to them, ‘^(I)Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and ^(J)do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; ^(K)I am Yahweh your God.’ ⁸ But they ^(L)rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; each one did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the ^(M)idols of Egypt.

Then I said I would ^(N)pour out My wrath on them, to ^[d]spend My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted ^(O)for the sake of My name, that it should ^(P)not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the ^(Q)wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them My ^(R)statutes and made them know My judgments, ^(S)which, if a man does them, he will live by them. ¹² And I also gave them My sabbaths to be a ^(T)sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. ¹³ But the house of Israel ^(U)rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes, and they rejected My judgments, ^(V)which, if a man does them, he will live by them; and My ^(W)sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would ^(X)pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to completely destroy them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Also ^(Y)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, ¹⁶ because they rejected My judgments, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their ^(Z)heart continually walked after their idols. ¹⁷ Yet My eye had pity on them rather than bringing them to ruin, and I did not make of them a ^(AA)complete destruction in the wilderness.

¹⁸ “I said to their ^[e](AB)children in the wilderness, ‘^(AC)Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers and do not keep their judgments and do not defile yourselves with their idols. ^19 (AD)I am Yahweh your God; ^(AE)walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. ^20 (AF)Keep My sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.’ ²¹ But the ^(AG)children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to do My judgments, which, if a man does them, he will live by them; they profaned My sabbaths. So I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to spend My anger against them in the wilderness. ²² But I ^(AH)turned back My hand and acted ^(AI)for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³ Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would ^(AJ)scatter them among the nations and ^[f]disperse them among the lands ²⁴ because they had not done My judgments, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and ^(AK)their eyes were going after the idols of their fathers. ²⁵ And I also gave them statutes that were ^(AL)not good and judgments by which they could not live; ²⁶ and I pronounced them ^(AM)unclean because of their gifts, in that they ^(AN)caused all ^[g]their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might ^(AO)know that I am Yahweh.”’

²⁷ “Therefore, son of man, ^(AP)speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Yet in this your fathers have ^(AQ)blasphemed Me by ^(AR)acting unfaithfully against Me. ²⁸ Indeed, I ^(AS)brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, and they saw every ^(AT)high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they gave the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you are going?’ So its name is called ^[h]Bamah to this day.”’