He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They are people from a nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have rebelled against me to this day.

Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll. Then speak to the people of Israel.”

He said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them.

I am not sending you to people whose language is hard to understand or difficult to speak. I am sending you to Israel.

But the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to me. All the people of Israel are very stubborn and hardheaded.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the people of Israel. Listen to what I say, and warn them for me.

Then take an iron pan, and set it up as a wall between you and the city. Turn your face toward the city as if you were going to attack it, and then attack it. This is a sign for the people of Israel.

“Then lie on your left side and take the punishment of the nation of Israel yourself. You will bear its punishment as many days as you lie on that side.

I have assigned to you one day for each year its punishment will last. So for 390 days, you will bear the punishment for the sins of the nation of Israel.

Then Yahweh said, “In the same way, the people of Israel will eat unclean bread among the nations where I scatter them.”

Later, take some of them, and throw them in a fire and burn them up. From there a fire will spread throughout the whole nation of Israel.

A Prophecy against the Mountains of Israel

Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said,

“Son of man, look toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.

Say this, ‘You mountains of Israel, listen to the word of Adonay Yahweh! This is what Adonay Yahweh says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am going to attack you with a sword and destroy your worship sites.

I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel in front of your idols, and I will scatter their bones around your altars.

“‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and say, “Oh no!” because the people of Israel have done evil and disgusting things. So they will die in wars, famines, and plagues.

The Lord’s Judgment on Israel

Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said,

“Son of man, this is what Adonay Yahweh says to the people in the land of Israel: The end is coming! The end is coming to the four corners of the earth.

I will hand their jewels over to foreigners as loot and to the most evil people on earth as prizes. These foreigners will dishonor the people of Israel.

I will turn my face away from the people of Israel, and foreigners will dishonor my treasured place. Robbers will go in and dishonor it.

There I saw the glory of Israel’s Elohim as I did in the vision that I saw in the valley.

He asked me, “Son of man, do you see what the people of Israel are doing? The people of Israel are doing very disgusting things here, things that will force me to go far away from my holy place. But you will see even more disgusting things.”

He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked, disgusting things that the people of Israel are doing here.”

So I went in and looked. I saw that the walls were covered with drawings of every kind of crawling creature, every kind of disgusting animal, and all the idols in the nation of Israel.

In front of these drawings stood 70 of Israel’s leaders. Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, was standing with the leaders. Each of them was holding an incense burner in his hand, and a cloud of incense went up.