Bible in 90 Days
21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days drag on and every vision comes to nothing and is not fulfilled?
23 Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel. But say to them, The days are at hand and the fulfillment of every vision.
24 For there shall be no more any false, empty, and fruitless vision or flattering divination in the house of Israel.
25 For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed (come to pass); it shall be no more delayed or prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and will perform it, says the Lord God.
26 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
27 Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that [Ezekiel] sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.
28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: There shall none of My words be deferred any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be performed, says the Lord God.
13 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own mind and heart, Hear the word of the Lord!
3 Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit [and things they have not seen] and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins and in waste places.
5 You have not gone up into the gaps or breeches, nor built up the wall for the house of Israel that it might stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
6 They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, The Lord says; but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they have hoped and made men to hope for the confirmation of their word.
7 Have you not seen a false vision and have you not spoken a lying divination when you say, The Lord says, although I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken empty, false, and delusive words and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord God.
9 And My hand shall be against the prophets who see empty, false, and delusive visions and who give lying prophecies. They shall not be in the secret council of My people, nor shall they be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord God.
10 Because, even because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace, when there is no peace, and because when one builds a [flimsy] wall, behold, [these prophets] daub it over with whitewash,
11 Say to them who daub it with whitewash that it shall fall! There shall be a downpour of rain; and you, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a violent wind shall tear apart [the whitewashed, flimsy wall].
12 Behold, when the wall is fallen, will you not be asked, Where is the coating with which you [prophets] daubed it?
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will even rend it with a stormy wind in My wrath, and there shall be an overwhelming rain in My anger and great hailstones in wrath to destroy [that wall].
14 So will I break down the wall that you have daubed with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundations will be exposed; when it falls, you will perish and be consumed in the midst of it. And you will know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord.
15 Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall and upon those who have daubed it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, neither are they who daubed it,
16 The [false] prophets of Israel who prophesied deceitfully about Jerusalem, seeing visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord God.
17 And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of [the wishful thinking of] their own minds and hearts; prophesy against them,
18 And say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew pillows to all armholes and fasten magic, protective charms to all wrists, and deceptive veils upon the heads of those of every stature to hunt and capture human lives! Will you snare the lives of My people to keep your own selves alive?
19 You have profaned Me among My people [in payment] for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, slaying persons who should not die and giving [a guaranty of] life to those who should not live, by your lying to My people, who give heed to lies.
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your pillows and charms and veils with which you snare human lives like birds, and I will tear them from your arms and will let the lives you hunt go free, the lives you are snaring like birds.
21 Your [deceptive] veils also will I tear and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted and snared. Then you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord.
22 Because with lies you have made the righteous sad and disheartened, whom I have not made sad or disheartened, and because you have encouraged and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way and be saved [in that you falsely promised him life],
23 Therefore you will no more see false visions or practice divinations, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Then you will know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord.
14 Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me and sat before me.
2 And the word of the Lord came to me:
3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and put the stumbling block of their iniquity and guilt before their faces; should I permit Myself to be inquired of at all by them?
4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols [of self-will and unsubmissiveness] into his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity [idols of silver and gold] before his face, and yet comes to the prophet [to inquire of him], I the Lord will answer him, answer him according to the multitude of his idols,
5 That I may lay hold of the house of Israel in the thoughts of their own mind and heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols.
6 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
7 For anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who separates himself from Me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity and guilt before his face, and [yet] comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of Me, I the Lord will answer him Myself!
8 And I will set My face against that [false worshiper] and will make him a sign and a byword, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord.
9 [The prophet has not been granted permission to give an answer to the hypocritical inquirer] but if the prophet does give the man the answer he desires [thus allowing himself to be a party to the inquirer’s sin], I the Lord will see to it that the prophet is deceived in his answer, and I will stretch out My hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.
10 And they both shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the iniquity of the [presumptuous] prophet shall be the same as the iniquity of the [hypocritical] inquirer,
11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people, and I may be their God, says the Lord God.
12 The word of the Lord came [again] to me, saying,
13 Son of man, when a land sins against Me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out My hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it man and beast,
14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they would save but their own lives by their righteousness (their uprightness and right standing with Me), says the Lord God.
15 If I cause ferocious and evil wild animals to pass through the land and they ravage and bereave it, and it becomes desolate so that no man may pass through because of the beasts;
16 Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; they themselves alone would be delivered but the land would be desolate (laid waste and deserted).
17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,
18 Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they themselves alone would be delivered.
19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast,
20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would but deliver their own lives by their righteousness (their moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation).
21 For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send My four sore acts of judgment upon Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil wild beasts, and the pestilence—to cut off from it man and beast!(A)
22 And yet, behold, in it shall be left a remnant (an escaped portion), both sons and daughters. They shall be carried forth to you [in Babylon], and when you see their [ungodly] walk and their [wicked] doings, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
23 And they shall console you when you see their evil ways and their rebellious actions. Then you shall know (understand and realize) that I have not done without cause all that I have done in Jerusalem, says the Lord God.
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, How is the wood of the grapevine [Israel] more than that of any tree, the vine branch which was among the trees of the forest?(B)
3 Shall wood be taken from it to do any work? Or will men take a peg of it on which to hang any vessel?
4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire consumes both ends of it and the middle of it is charred. Is it suitable or profitable for any work?
5 Notice, even when it was whole, it was good for no work; how much less shall it be useful and profitable when the fire has devoured it and it is charred?
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 And I will set My face against them; they shall go out from one fire and another fire shall devour them, and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.
8 And I will make the land desolate (laid waste and deserted) because they have acted faithlessly [through their idolatry], says the Lord.
16 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know, understand, and realize her [idolatrous] abominations [that they] are disgusting, detestable, and shamefully vile.
3 And say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem [representing Israel]: Your [spiritual] origin and your birth are thoroughly Canaanitish; your [spiritual] father was an Amorite and your [spiritual] mother a Hittite.(C)
4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt or swaddled with bands at all.
5 No eye pitied you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for your person was abhorrent and loathsome on the day that you were born.
6 And when I passed by you and saw you rolling about in your blood, I said to you in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you still in your natal blood, Live!
7 I caused you [Israel] to multiply as the bud which grows in the field, and you increased and became tall and you came to full maidenhood and beauty; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
8 Now I passed by you again and looked upon you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I plighted My troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord, and you became Mine.
9 Then I washed you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your [clinging] blood from you and I anointed you with oil.
10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with [fine seal] leather; and I girded you about with fine linen and covered you with silk.
11 I decked you also with ornaments and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.
12 And I put a ring on your nostril and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown upon your head!
13 Thus you were decked with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth; you ate fine flour and honey and oil. And you were exceedingly beautiful and you prospered into royal estate.
14 And your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty, for it was perfect through My majesty and splendor which I had put upon you, says the Lord God.
15 But you trusted in and relied on your own beauty and were unfaithful to God and played the harlot [in idolatry] because of your renown, and you poured out your fornications upon anyone who passed by [as you worshiped the idols of every nation which prevailed over you] and your beauty was his.
16 And you took some of your garments and made for yourself gaily decorated high places or shrines and played the harlot on them—things which should not come and that which should not take place.
17 You did also take your fair jewels and beautiful vessels of My gold and My silver which I had given you and made for yourself images of men, and you played the harlot with them;
18 And you took your embroidered garments and covered them and set My oil and My incense before them.
19 My bread also which I gave you—fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you—you have even set it before the idols for a sweet odor. Thus it was, says the Lord God.
20 Moreover, you have taken your sons and your daughters whom you have borne to Me, and you have sacrificed them [to your idols] to be destroyed. Were your harlotries too little,
21 That you have slain My children and delivered them up, in setting them apart and causing them to pass through the fire for [your idols]?
22 And in all your abominations and idolatrous whoredoms you have not [earnestly] remembered the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, rolling about in your natal blood.
23 And after all your wickedness—Woe, woe to you! says the Lord God—
24 You have built also for yourself a vaulted chamber (brothel) and have made a high place [of idol worship] in every street.
25 At every crossway you built your high place [for idol worship] and have made your beauty an abomination [abhorrent, loathsome, extremely disgusting, and detestable]; and you have made your body available to every passerby and multiplied your [idolatry and spiritual] harlotry.
26 You have also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your neighbors, [by adopting their idolatries] whose worship is thoroughly sensuous, and you have multiplied your harlotry to provoke Me to anger.
27 Behold therefore, I have stretched out My hand against you, diminished your ordinary allowance of food, and delivered you over to the will of those who hate and despise you, the daughters of the Philistines, who turned away in shame from your despicable policy and lewd behavior [for they are faithful to their gods]!
28 You played the harlot also with the Assyrians because you were unsatiable; yes, you played the harlot with them, and yet you were not satisfied.
29 Moreover, you multiplied your harlotry with the land of trade, with Chaldea, and yet even with this you were not satisfied.
30 How weak and spent with longing and lust is your heart and mind, says the Lord God, seeing you do all these things, the work of a bold, domineering harlot,
31 In that you build your vaulted place (brothel) at the head of every street and make your high place at every crossing. But you were not like a harlot because you scorned pay.
32 Rather, you were as an adulterous wife who receives strangers instead of her husband!
33 Men give gifts to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers and hire them, bribing [the nations to ally themselves with you], that they may come to you on every side for your harlotries (your idolatrous unfaithfulnesses to God).
34 And you are different [the reverse] from other women in your harlotries, in that nobody follows you to lure you into harlotry and in that you give hire when no hire is given you; and so you are different.
35 Therefore, O harlot [Israel], hear the word of the Lord!
36 Thus says the Lord God: Because your brass [coins and gifts] and your filthiness were emptied out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers, and because of all the [filthy] idols of your abominations, and the blood of your children that you gave to them,
37 Therefore behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those whom you have loved with all those whom you have hated; I will even gather them [the allies you have courted] against you on every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness [making you, Israel, an object of loathing and of mockery, a spectacle among the nations].
38 And I the Lord will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and I will bring upon you the blood of [your divine Husband’s] wrath and jealousy.(D)
39 And I will also give you into the hand of those [your enemies], and they shall throw down your vaulted place (brothel) and shall demolish your high places [of idolatry]; they shall strip you of your clothes and shall take your splendid jewels and leave you naked and bare.
40 They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones and hew down and thrust you through with their swords.
41 And they shall burn your houses with fire and execute judgments upon you before the eyes of many women spectators [the nations]. And I will cause you to cease playing the harlot, and you also shall give hire no more.
42 So will I make My wrath toward you to rest and My jealousy shall depart from you [My adulterous wife], and I will be quiet and will be no more angry.
43 Because you have not [earnestly] remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me with all these things, therefore behold, I also will bring your deeds down on your own head, says the Lord God. Did you not commit this lewdness above and in addition to all your other abominations?
44 Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you: As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45 You are your [spiritual] mother’s daughter who loathed her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
46 And your elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters who dwelt in the north and at your left hand; and your younger sister who dwelt in the south and at your right hand is Sodom and her daughters.
47 Yet you were not satisfied to walk after their ways or to do after their abominations, but very soon you were more corrupt in all your ways than they were [for your sin, as those taught of God, is far blacker than theirs].(E)
48 As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, overabundance of food, prosperous ease, and idleness were hers and her daughters’; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 And they were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it and I saw fit.(F)
51 Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins, but you have multiplied your [idolatrous] abominations more than they and have seemed to justify your sisters [Samaria and Sodom] in all their wickedness by all the abominable things which you have done—you even make them appear righteous in comparison with you.
52 Take upon you and bear your own shame and disgrace [in your punishment], you also who called in question and judged your sisters, for you have virtually absolved them by your sins in which you behaved more abominably than they; they are more right than you. Yes, be ashamed and confounded and bear your shame and disgrace, you also, for you have seemed to justify your sisters and make them appear righteous.
53 I will restore them again from their captivity, restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in the midst of them [in the day of the Lord],(G)
54 That you [Judah], amid your shame and disgrace, may be compelled to recognize your wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed and confounded at all you have done, becoming [converted and bringing] consolation and comfort to [your sisters.]
55 And your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; then you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.
56 For was your sister Sodom not mentioned by you [except] as a byword in the day of your pride,
57 Before your own wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become like her, an object of reproach and a byword for the daughters of Syria and of Edom and for all who are round about them and for the daughters of the Philistines—those round about who despise you.
58 You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your [idolatrous] abominations, says the Lord.
59 Yes, thus says the Lord God: I will even deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant;
60 Nevertheless, I will [earnestly] remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.(H)
61 Then you will [earnestly] remember your ways and be ashamed and confounded when you shall receive your sisters, both your elder and your younger; I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant [with Me].(I)
62 And I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord,(J)
63 That you may [earnestly] remember and be ashamed and confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord God.
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable or allegory to the house of Israel;
3 Say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle [Nebuchadnezzar] with great wings and long pinions, rich in feathers of various colors, came to Lebanon [symbolic of Jerusalem] and took the top of the cedar [tree].
4 He broke off the topmost of its young twigs [the youthful King Jehoiachin] and carried it into a land of trade [Babylon]; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seedlings of the land [Zedekiah, one of the native royal family] and planted it in fertile soil and a fruitful field; he placed it beside abundant waters and set it as a willow tree [to succeed Zedekiah’s nephew Jehoiachin in Judah as vassal king].
6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low [not Davidic] stature, whose branches turned [in submission] toward him, and its roots remained under and subject to him [the king of Babylon]; so it became a vine and brought forth branches and shot forth leafy twigs.
7 There was also another great eagle [the Egyptian king] with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine [Zedekiah] bent its roots [languishingly] toward him and shot forth its branches toward him, away from the beds of its planting, for him to water.
8 Though it was planted in good soil where water was plentiful for it to produce leaves and to bear fruit, it was transplanted, that it might become a splendid vine.
9 Thus says the Lord God: Ask, Will it thrive? Will he [the insulted Nebuchadnezzar] not pluck up its roots and strip off its fruit so that all its fresh sprouting leaves will wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pluck it up by its roots [totally ending Israel’s national existence].(K)
10 Yes, behold, though transplanted, will it prosper? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the furrows and beds where it sprouted and grew.(L)
11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know and realize what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took its king [Jehoiachin] and its princes and brought them with him to Babylon.(M)
13 And he took one of the royal family [the king’s uncle, Zedekiah] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took the mighty and chief men of the land,(N)
14 That the kingdom might become low and base and be unable to lift itself up, but that by keeping his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] covenant it might stand.
15 But he [Zedekiah] rebelled against him [Nebuchadnezzar] in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Will he prosper? Will he escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant with [Babylon] and yet escape?
16 As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king [Nebuchadnezzar] dwells who made [Zedekiah as vassal] king, whose oath [Zedekiah] despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon shall [Zedekiah] die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war when the [Babylonians] cast up mounds and build forts to destroy many lives.
18 For [Zedekiah] despised the oath and broke the covenant and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely My oath [made for Me by Nebuchadnezzar] that [Zedekiah] has despised and My covenant with him that he has broken, I will even bring down on his own head.
20 And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment and punishment with him there for his trespass and treason that he has committed against Me.
21 And all his fugitives [from Judah] in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind. And you shall know (understand and realize) that I the Lord have spoken it.
22 Thus says the Lord God: I Myself will take a twig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and will plant it upon a mountain high and exalted.(O)
23 On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and be a noble cedar, and under it shall dwell all birds of every feather; in the shade of its branches they shall nestle and find rest.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know (understand and realize) that I the Lord have brought low the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
2 What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
3 As I live, says the Lord God, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sins, it shall die.(P)
5 But if a man is [uncompromisingly] righteous (upright and in right standing with God) and does what is lawful and right,
6 And has not eaten [at the idol shrines] upon the mountains nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor’s wife nor come near to a woman in her time of impurity,
7 And has not wronged anyone but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery but has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment,
8 Who does not charge interest or percentage of increase on what he lends [in compassion], who withholds his hand from iniquity, who executes true justice between man and man,
9 Who has walked in My statutes and kept My ordinances, to deal justly; [then] he is [truly] righteous; he shall surely live, says the Lord God.(Q)
10 If he begets a son who is a robber or a shedder of blood, who does to a brother either of these sins of violence,
11 And leaves undone all of the duties [of a righteous man], and has even eaten [the food set before idols] on the mountains and defiled his neighbor’s wife,
12 Has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored [to the debtor] his pledge, has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination (things hateful and exceedingly vile in the eyes of God),
13 And has charged interest or percentage of increase on what he has loaned [in supposed compassion]; shall he then live? He shall not live! He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
14 But if this wicked man begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has committed, and considers and fears [God] and does not do like his father,
15 Who has not eaten [food set before idols] upon the mountains nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor’s wife,
16 Nor wronged anyone, nor has taken anything in pledge, nor has taken by robbery but has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment,
17 Who has withdrawn his hand from [oppressing] the poor, who has not received interest or increase [from the needy] but has executed My ordinances and has walked in My statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live.
18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity and guilt.
19 Yet do you say, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right and has kept all My statutes and has done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sins, it [is the one that] shall die. The son shall not bear and be punished for the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear and be punished for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him only, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon the wicked only.
21 But if the wicked man turns from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My statutes and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
22 None of his transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for his righteousness which he has executed [for his moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation], he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord, and not rather that he should turn from his evil way and return [to his God] and live?
24 But if the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair and just. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not My way fair and just? Are not your ways unfair and unjust?
26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and dies in his sins, for his iniquity that he has done he shall die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his life.
28 Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions which he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
29 Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not fair and just! O house of Israel, are not My ways fair and just? Are not your ways unfair and unjust?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin and so shall they not be a stumbling block to you.(R)
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed against Me, and make you a new mind and heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel?(S)
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore turn (be converted) and live!
19 Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say, What a lioness was your mother [Jerusalem-Judah]! She couched among lions; in the midst of young lions she nourished her cubs.
3 And she [the royal mother-city] brought up one of her cubs [Jehoahaz]; he became a young lion and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.(T)
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.(U)
5 Now when she had waited, she saw her hope was lost. Then she took another of her cubs [Jehoiachin] and made him a young lion.(V)
6 And he [Jehoiachin] went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion and learned to catch prey, and he devoured men.
7 And he knew and ravaged their strongholds and he laid waste their cities, and the land was appalled and all who were in it by the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against [the king] on every side from the provinces, and they spread their net over him [Jehoiachin]; he was taken in their pit.(W)
9 With hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into custody and put him in strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother [the mother-city Jerusalem] was like a vine [like you, Zedekiah, and in your blood] planted by the waters; it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.(X)
11 And it had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule and its height was exalted among the thick branches and into the clouds, and it was seen in its height among the multitude of its branches and was conspicuous.
12 But the vine was plucked up in God’s wrath [by His agent the Babylonian king] and it was cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire [of God’s judgment] consumed them.
13 And now it is transplanted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land [Babylon].
14 And fire went out of a rod [Zedekiah] of its branches which has consumed the vine’s fruit, so that it has in it no [longer a] strong rod to be a scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation and a dirge.
20 In the seventh year, in the fifth [month], on the tenth [day] of the month [after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, which was to last seventy years], certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat down before me [Ezekiel, in Babylonia].(Y)
2 Then came the word of the Lord to me, saying,
3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!
4 Will you judge them, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge them? Then cause them to know, understand, and realize the abominations of their fathers.(Z)
5 And say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand and swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,
6 On that day I lifted up My hand and swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, [a land] which is an ornament and a glory to all lands.
7 Then said I to them, Let every man cast away the abominable things on which he feasts his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
8 But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me; they did not every man cast away the abominable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I [thought], I will pour out My wrath upon them and finish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
10 So I caused them to go out from the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them My statutes and showed and made known to them My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must live in and by them.
12 Moreover, also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might understand and realize that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them [separates and sets them apart].
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they walked not in My statutes and they despised and cast away My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must even live in and by them; and they grievously profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness and uproot and consume them.
14 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the [heathen] nations in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up My hand to swear 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 ornament and glory of all lands—
16 Because they despised and rejected My ordinances and walked not in My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, for their hearts went after their idols.
17 Yet My eye pitied them instead of destroying them, and I did not make a full end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said to their sons in the wilderness, You shall not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I the Lord am your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances,
20 And hallow (separate and keep holy) My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord your God.
21 Yet the sons rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My ordinances which, if a man does, he must live in and by them; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.
22 Yet I withheld My hand and acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be debased and profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations, in whose sight I had brought them forth [from bondage].
23 Moreover, I lifted up My hand and swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the [heathen] nations and disperse them in the countries,
24 Because they had not executed My ordinances but had despised and rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols.
25 Wherefore also I gave them [over to] statutes that were not good and ordinances whereby they should not live and could not have life,(AA)
26 And I [let them] pollute and make themselves unclean in their own offerings [to their idols], in that they caused to pass through the fire all the firstborn, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord.(AB)
27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Again in this your fathers blasphemed Me, in that they dealt faithlessly and treacherously with Me and committed a treasonous trespass against Me.
28 For when I had brought them into the land which I lifted up My hand and swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every dark and leafy tree [as a place for idol worship], and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger and sadness; there also they made their sweet-smelling savor and poured out there their drink offerings.
29 Then I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? And the name of it is called Bamah [high place] to this day.
30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Do you [exiles] debase and defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers? And do you play the harlot after their loathsome and detestable things?
31 And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, do you not debase and defile yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!
32 And that which has come up in your mind shall never happen, in that you think, We will be as the nations, as the tribes of the countries, to serve idols of wood and stone.
33 As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out will I be King over you.
34 And I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.
36 As I entered into judgment and contended with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment and contend with you, says the Lord God.(AC)
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod [as the shepherd does his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and I will constrain you] and bring you into the covenant to which you are permanently bound.(AD)
38 And I will purge out and separate from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they temporarily dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord.(AE)
39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go, serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to Me! But you shall not profane My holy name any more with your sacrificial gifts and your idols!
40 For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There will I [graciously] accept them, and there will I require your offerings and the firstfruits and the choicest of your contributions, with all your sacred things.
41 I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant odor when I lead you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations [who will seek Me because of My power displayed in you].(AF)
42 And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up My hand and swore to give to your fathers.
43 And there you shall [earnestly] remember your ways and all your doings with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evil deeds which you have done.
44 And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.
45 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
46 Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land of the South (the Negeb),
47 And say to the forest of the South (the Negeb), Hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it.
48 All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
49 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, Does he not speak in parables and make allegories?
21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and direct your [prophetic] word against the holy places; prophesy against the land of Israel
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath and will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north,
5 And all living shall know, understand, and realize that I the Lord have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed any more.
6 Sigh therefore, son of man! With breaking heart and with bitterness shall you sigh before their eyes.
7 And it shall be that when they say to you, Why do you sigh? that you shall answer, Because of the tidings. When it comes, every heart will melt and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it shall be fulfilled, says the Lord God.
8 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
9 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished;
10 It [the sword of Babylon] is sharpened that it may make a slaughter, polished that it may flash and glitter like lightning! Shall we then rejoice and make mirth [when such a calamity is impending]? But the rod or scepter of My son [Judah] rejects and views with contempt every tree [that is, since God’s promise long ago to Judah is certain, he believes Judah’s scepter must remain no matter what power arises against it]!(AG)
11 And the sword [of Babylon] is given to be polished that it may be put to use; the sword is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel; they are thrown to the sword along with My people, and terrors by reason of the sword are upon My people. Therefore smite your thigh [in dismay].
13 For this sword has been tested and proved [on others], and what if the rejecting and despising rod or scepter of Judah shall be no more but completely swept away? says the Lord God.
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and smite your hands together and let the sword be doubled, yes, trebled in intensity—the sword for those to be overthrown and pierced through; it is the sword of great slaughter which encompasses them [so that none can escape, even by entering into their inner chambers].
15 I have set the threatening and glittering sword against all their gates, that their hearts may melt and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah! It is made [to flash] like lightning; it is pointed and sharpened for slaughter.
16 Turn [O sword] and cut right or cut left, whichever way your lust for blood and your edge direct you.
17 I will also clap My hands, and I will cause My wrath to rest. I the Lord have said it.
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
19 Also, son of man, mark out two ways by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come; both shall come forth from the same land. And make a signpost (a hand); make it at the head of the way to a city.
20 You shall point out a way for the [Babylonian] sword to come to Rabbah [the capital] of the sons of Ammon and to Judah with Jerusalem, the fortified and inaccessible.
21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows to and fro, he consults the teraphim (household gods), he looks at the liver.
22 In his right hand is the lot marked for Jerusalem: to set battering rams, to open the mouth calling for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up siege mounds, and to build siege towers.
23 And it shall seem like a lying divination to them who have sworn oaths [of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar]. [Will he now fight against their homeland?] But he will remind them of their guilt and iniquity [in violating those oaths], that they may be caught.(AH)
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt and iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because, I say, you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the [enemy’s] hand.
25 And you, O dishonored and wicked one [Zedekiah], the prince of Israel, whose day will come at the time of your final reckoning and punishment,
26 Thus says the Lord God: Remove the [high priest’s] miter or headband and take off the [king’s] crown; things shall not remain as they have been; the low is to be exalted and the high is to be brought low.
27 I will overthrow, overthrow, overthrow it; this also shall be no more until He comes Whose right it is [to reign in judgment and in righteousness], and I will give it to Him.(AI)
28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach: Say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter; it is polished to cause it to devour to the uttermost and to flash like lightning,
29 While they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you to lay you [of Ammon] upon the headless trunks of those who are slain, of the wicked whose day is coming at the time of the final reckoning and punishment.
30 Return [the sword] to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin and of your birth, I will judge you.
31 And I will pour out My indignation upon you [O sons of Ammon]; I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath and will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy.
32 You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be no more remembered, for I the Lord have spoken it.(AJ)
22 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 And you son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge, will you judge the bloodshedding city? Then cause her to know all her abominations,
3 And say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her so that her time [of doom] will come, and makes idols [over those who worship them] to defile her!
4 In your blood which you have shed you have become guilty, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made, and you have caused your time [of judgment and punishment] to draw near and have arrived at the full measure of your years. Therefore have I made you a reproach to the [heathen] nations and a mocking to all countries.
5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult.
6 Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood.
7 In you have they treated father and mother lightly; in the midst of you they have dealt unjustly and by oppression in relation to the stranger; in you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have despised and scorned My sacred things and have profaned My Sabbaths.
9 In you are slanderous men who arouse suspicions to shed blood, and in you are they who have eaten [food offered to idols] upon the mountains; in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.
10 In you men have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness [the nakedness of mother or stepmother]; in you they have humbled women who are [ceremonially] unclean [during their periods or because of childbirth].
11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.
12 In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [percentage of] increase, and you have greedily gained from your neighbors by oppression and extortion and have forgotten Me, says the Lord God.
13 Behold therefore, I have struck My hands together at your dishonest gain which you have made and at the blood which has been in the midst of you.
14 Can your heart and courage endure or can your hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.
15 And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you.
16 And you shall be dishonored and profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord.
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18 Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me scum and waste matter. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become scum and waste matter, behold therefore, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know, understand, and realize that I the Lord have poured out My wrath upon you [O Israel].
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24 Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25 There is a conspiracy of [Israel’s false] prophets in the midst of her, like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.
26 Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have made no distinction between the sacred and the secular, neither have they taught people the difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves rending and devouring the prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them over with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord God—when the Lord has not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression and extortion and have committed robbery; yes, they have wronged and vexed the poor and needy; yes, they have oppressed the stranger and temporary resident wrongfully.
30 And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
31 Therefore have I poured out My indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I repaid [by bringing it] upon their own heads, says the Lord God.
23 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,
2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
3 And they played the harlot in Egypt. There they played the harlot in their youth; there their bosoms were pressed and there their virgin breasts were handled.
4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder and Aholibah her sister, and they became Mine and they bore sons and daughters. As for the identity of their names, Aholah is Samaria and Aholibah is Jerusalem.
5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine, and she was foolishly fond of her lovers and doted on the Assyrians her neighbors,
6 Who were clothed with blue, governors and deputies, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
7 And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
8 Neither has she left her harlotries since the days of Egypt [from where she brought them], for in her youth men there lay with her and handled her girlish bosom, and they poured out their sinful desire upon her.
9 Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians upon whom she doted.
10 These uncovered her nakedness and shame; they took her sons and her daughters and they slew her with the sword, and her name became notorious and a byword among women when judgments were executed upon her.
11 And her sister Aholibah saw this; yet she was more corrupt in her foolish fondness than she, and in her harlotries she was more wanton than her sister in her harlotries.
12 She doted upon the Assyrians—governors and deputies, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
13 And I saw that she was defiled, that both [of the sisters] took one way.
14 But [Aholibah] carried her harlotries further, for she saw men pictured upon the wall, the pictures of the Chaldeans sketched in bright red pigment,
15 Girded with girdles on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, a picture of Babylonian men whose native land was Chaldea,
16 Then as soon as she saw [the sketches of] them, she doted on them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their evil desire; and when she was polluted by them, she [Jerusalem] broke the relationship and pushed them away from her in disgust.
18 So she flaunted her harlotries and exposed her nakedness, and I was disgusted and turned from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she doted upon her paramours there, whose lust was sensuous and vulgar like that of asses or stallions.
21 Thus you yearned for the lewdness of your youth, when those of Egypt handled your bosom on account of your girlish breasts.
22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will rouse up your lovers against you, from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you on every side:
23 The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officers all of them, princes, men of renown and counselors, all of them riding on horses.
24 And they shall come against you with weapons, chariots, wagons and wheels, and with a host of infantry which shall array themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment and punishment to them, and they shall judge and punish you according to their [heathen] customs in such matters.
25 And I will set My jealous indignation against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears, and those who are left of you shall fall by the sword; they shall take your sons and your daughters, and the remainder shall be devoured by the fire.
26 They shall also strip you [Judah] of your clothes and take away your fine jewels.
27 Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them nor [earnestly] remember Egypt any more.
28 For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned away in disgust.
29 They shall deal with you in hatred and shall take away all [the earnings of] your labor and shall leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your wanton ways.
30 These things shall be done to you, because you have played the harlot after the nations and because you have defiled yourself with their idols.
31 You have walked in the way of your sister [Samaria, Israel’s capital]; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.
32 Thus says the Lord God: You shall drink of your sister’s cup which is deep and wide and brimful; you shall be laughed to scorn and held in derision, for it contains much [too much to endure].
33 You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of wasting astonishment and horror and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You shall drink it and drain it out, and then gnaw the pieces of it [which in your drunkenness you have broken] and shall tear your [own] breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord God.
35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten Me [your divine Husband] and cast Me behind your back, therefore bear also [the consequences of] your lewdness and your harlotry.
36 The Lord said, moreover, to me: Son of man, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare and show to them their abominations (the detestable, loathsome, and shamefully vile things they do),
37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands, even with their idols have they committed adultery [against Me]. And they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to their images [as an offering of food] to be devoured [by them].
38 Moreover, this they have done to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day [of their idolatries] and have profaned My Sabbaths.
39 For when they had slain their children [as offerings] to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it [by daring to offer sacrifice there also]! And behold, thus have they done in the midst of My house!
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation