³⁰ Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “In the way of your ancestors^[a] will you defile yourself, and after their vile idols will you prostitute yourselves? ³¹ And when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children^[b] through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until today,^[c] and will I let myself^[d] be consulted by you, house of Israel?”’ As I live,”^[e] declares^[f] the Lord Yahweh, “I will not let myself^[g] be consulted by you! ³² And what you are planning,^[h] surely it will not be—that you are saying, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the clans^[i] of the lands, serving wood and stone!’^[j]

³³ “As I live,”^[k] declares^[l] the Lord Yahweh, “surely^[m] with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage pouring forth^[n] I will reign as king over you! ³⁴ And I will bring you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage poured out. ³⁵ Then I will bring you to the desert of the peoples, and I will execute justice on you there face to face. ³⁶ Just as^[o] I executed justice on your ancestors^[p] in the desert of the land of Egypt, likewise I will execute justice on you!” declares^[q] the Lord Yahweh. ³⁷ “And I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸ And I will purge the rebels from among you and the ones transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land where they are living as aliens,^[r] but into the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am Yahweh.