³⁰ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Are you defiling yourselves the way your ancestors did,^(A) and prostituting yourselves with their abhorrent things? ³¹ When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your children in the fire,^[a](B) you still continue to defile yourselves with all your idols today. So should I let you inquire of me, house of Israel? As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I will not let you inquire of me!

Israel’s Restoration

³² “‘When you say, “Let’s be like the nations, like the clans of other countries, serving wood and stone,”^(C) what you have in mind will never happen.^{(D) 33} As I live—the declaration of the Lord God—I will reign over you with a strong hand, an outstretched arm,^(E) and outpoured wrath. ³⁴ I will bring you from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you were scattered,^(F) with a strong hand, an outstretched arm,^(G) and outpoured wrath. ³⁵ I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples^(H) and enter into judgment with you there face to face. ³⁶ Just as I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt,^(I) so I will enter into judgment with you. This is the declaration of the Lord God. ³⁷ I will make you pass under the rod^(J) and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸ I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against me.^(K) I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.