Bible in 90 Days

Fulfillment of prophecy

²¹ The Lord’s word came to me: ²² Human one, what is this proverb of your people concerning Israel’s fertile land? They say, “The days go by, and every vision vanishes.” ²³ Therefore, say to them, The Lord God proclaims: I’ll put an end to this proverb! It will never again be uttered in Israel. Tell them instead: The days are coming soon for the fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ Never again will there be any worthless vision or deceptive divination in the house of Israel. ²⁵ I am the Lord! The word that I speak is the word that I will speak! It will happen and be delayed no longer. In your own days, household of rebels, I speak a word and make it happen. This is what the Lord God says!

²⁶ The Lord’s word came to me: ²⁷ Human one, the house of Israel is now saying, “The vision that he sees is for distant days; he prophesies about future times.” ²⁸ Therefore, say to them, The Lord God proclaims: It will be delayed no longer. Every word of mine that I’ve spoken is certain, and it will happen. This is what the Lord God says.

Against the prophets

13 The Lord’s word came to me: ² Human one, prophesy to Israel’s prophets who prophesy from their own imaginations. Say, Hear the Lord’s word! ³ The Lord God proclaims: Doom to the foolish prophets who follow their own whims but see nothing. ⁴ Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You haven’t gone up into the breach or reinforced the wall of the house of Israel, so that it might withstand the battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶ They saw worthless visions and performed deceptive divinations. Even though the Lord didn’t send them, they said, “This is what the Lord says” and expected their word to stand. ⁷ Didn’t you see worthless visions? And didn’t you report deceptive divinations and say, “This is what the Lord says,” even though I didn’t speak?

⁸ Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: Because you spoke worthless things and had false visions, I’m against you. This is what the Lord God says! ⁹ I’ll wield my power against the prophets, those seers of nothingness and diviners of lies. They won’t be included in my people’s council, or recorded in the house of Israel’s official records, or enter Israel’s fertile land. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ Without a doubt, they led my people astray, saying “Peace” when there was no peace, and “He is building a wall” when they were the ones who laid on the plaster. ¹¹ Say to those who laid on the plaster that it will fall. When the flooding rains appear and I send hailstones, it will collapse, and the storm winds will break it apart. ¹² The wall will certainly fall. Won’t it be said about you, “Where is your plaster now?”

¹³ Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: In my fury I will make a storm wind break out, and in my anger there will be flooding rains and hailstones in consuming wrath. ¹⁴ I will tear down the wall on which you laid plaster. I will raze it to the ground and expose its foundation. When it falls, you will be destroyed with it, and you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ I will exhaust my fury on the wall and on those who laid plaster on it. Then I will say to you, “Where is the wall?”^[a] and “Where are those who plastered it, ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and envisioned peace when there was no peace?” This is what the Lord God says!

¹⁷ You, human one, face the daughters of your people, those women who prophesy from their imaginations. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ and say, The Lord God proclaims: Doom to the women who sew bands on every wrist and make veils for heads of all sizes to entrap human lives. Will you ensnare my people’s lives but preserve your own? ¹⁹ When you degrade me to my people for handfuls of barley and bread crumbs, you mislead my gullible people, and you bring about the death of those who shouldn’t die and keep alive those who shouldn’t live.

²⁰ Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: I’m against the bands that you use to trap human lives.^[b] I will tear them from your arms, and I will set free the lives that you’ve trapped like birds. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and snatch my people out of your clutches. They will be prey in your clutches no longer. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ²² You hurt the righteous with slander—I didn’t wound them!—and you strengthened the hands of the wicked so that they survived without changing their evil ways! ²³ Therefore, you will no longer see empty visions or perform divinations. I will rescue my people from your clutches, and you will know that I am the Lord.

False devotion

14 When some of the elders of the house of Israel came to sit in my presence, ² the Lord’s word came to me: ³ Human one, these men decide on their own to set up their idols, so the cause of their downfall is right in front of them. Why should I allow them to ask me anything? ⁴ Therefore, speak to them and tell them, The Lord God proclaims: If anyone from the house of Israel decides on his own to set up his idols and puts the cause of his downfall right in front of him, but then comes to the prophet, I, the Lord, will require an answer from him through his many idols. ⁵ So I’ll seize the hearts of the house of Israel, whose idols have made them all strangers to me.

⁶ Therefore, say to the house of Israel, The Lord God proclaims: Come back! Turn away from your idols and from all your detestable practices. Turn away! ⁷ Or anyone of the house of Israel or any immigrant in Israel who becomes estranged from me by deciding on their own to set up their idols and puts the cause of their downfall right in front of them, but then comes to the prophet to ask me something through him, I, the Lord, will require an answer. ⁸ I will confront that one. I will set them up as a sign and an object lesson, and I will cut them off from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ As for the prophet who was seduced into speaking a word, even though it was I, the Lord, who seduced that prophet, I will use my power against him and cut him off completely from my people Israel. ¹⁰ The prophet and the inquirer alike will bear their guilt, ¹¹ so that the house of Israel won’t stray away from me again or make themselves impure with any of their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God. This is what the Lord God says!

Failed request

¹² The Lord’s word came to me: ¹³ Human one, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, so that I use my power against it, break off its food supply, let famine run rampant, and eliminate both humans and animals. ¹⁴ If these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, lived there, their lives alone would be saved because they were righteous. This is what the Lord God says. ¹⁵ Or suppose I allow wild animals to roam through the land, and it becomes so wild that no one can live there or even travel through it on account of the wild animals. ¹⁶ If these three men lived there, as surely as I live, proclaims the Lord God, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued, but the land would become a ruin. ¹⁷ Or suppose I bring a sword against that land and command the sword to pass through and eliminate both humans and animals. ¹⁸ If these three men lived there, as surely as I live, proclaims the Lord God, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued. ¹⁹ Or suppose I send a plague against that land and pour out my fury on it. With great bloodshed I would eliminate both humans and animals. ²⁰ If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, as surely as I live, proclaims the Lord God, they wouldn’t be able to rescue either sons or daughters. But they would save their lives because they were righteous.

²¹ The Lord God proclaims: How much more if I send all four of these terrible acts of judgment—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—against Jerusalem, to eliminate both humans and animals? ²² Yet a few survivors will be left. Sons and daughters will be brought out to you. When you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the evil that I inflicted on Jerusalem, for all that I brought against it. ²³ Seeing their ways and their deeds will bring you some consolation, because then you will understand what I’ve done, and that I didn’t do any of these things without cause. This is what the Lord God says.

The vine’s wood

15 The Lord’s word came to me: ² Human one, how is the vine’s wood better than the wood of all the trees in the forest? ³ Can you make anything useful from its wood? Can you make a peg from it and hang objects on it? ⁴ If not, can it be used as firewood? Fire would consume its two ends, but its middle part would only get charred. So is it useful for anything? ⁵ Look, even when it was whole, it was worthless. Now that the fire has consumed it, and it is charred, it’s even more useless.

⁶ Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: Of all the trees in the forest, I have decreed that the vine’s wood is destined to be consumed by fire. So also have I decreed for those who live in Jerusalem, ⁷ and I have confronted them. They may try to go out from the fire, but the fire will consume them. You will know that I am the Lord, because I confronted them. ⁸ I will turn the land into a ruin because they acted faithlessly, proclaims the Lord God.

Jerusalem’s unfaithfulness

16 The Lord’s word came to me: ² Human one, show Jerusalem her detestable practices. ³ Say, The Lord God proclaims to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you are from the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite. ⁴ This is how you were treated on the day you were born: Your umbilical cord wasn’t cut, you weren’t washed clean with water or rubbed with salt, and you weren’t wrapped in blankets. ⁵ No one took pity or cared enough to do any of these things for you. You were despised on the day of your birth and thrown out on the open field. ⁶ When I happened to come by, I saw you flailing about in your blood. I said to you while you were still bloody, “Live!” ⁷ I helped you to flourish like a young plant in the field, and you grew tall and became wonderfully endowed. Your breasts were firm, your hair beautifully thick. And you were completely naked.

⁸ When I passed by you, I realized that you were ready for love. So I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I made a solemn promise and entered into a covenant with you, and you became mine. This is what the Lord God says. ⁹ Then I washed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and poured oil on you. ¹⁰ I clothed you with colorful garments, put fine sandals on you, wrapped your head in linen, and covered you with jewels. ¹¹ I adorned you with fine jewelry, and put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. ¹² I put a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ I adorned you with gold and silver, and your garments were made of the finest linen and brocade. You ate the finest flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful, fit for royalty. ¹⁴ Among the nations you were famous for your beauty. It was perfect because of the splendor that I had given you. This is what the Lord God says.

¹⁵ But you trusted in your beauty and traded on your fame. At every opportunity, you seduced all who came by. ¹⁶ You took some of your clothing to make colorful shrines and prostituted yourself in them. ¹⁷ You took the beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given to you, and you made male images for yourself and prostituted yourself with them. ¹⁸ You took your fine garments and clothed them. You set my oil and incense before them. ¹⁹ You set my food that I had given you to eat—fine wheat, oil, and honey—before them as a pleasing aroma. This is what the Lord God says. ²⁰ You took your sons and daughters, which you had borne to me, and you sacrificed these to them so they could consume them. Was this promiscuity of yours a small thing? ²¹ You slaughtered my sons and placed them in the fire for them! ²² In all your detestable practices and promiscuities, you didn’t remember the days of your infancy when you lay completely naked, flailing about in your blood.

²³ After all your wickedness—doom, doom to you, proclaims the Lord God— ²⁴ you built a pavilion for yourself and set up platforms in every square. ²⁵ At every crossroad you built your platform and degraded your beauty by spreading your legs to all comers. And so you encouraged even more promiscuity. ²⁶ You prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your neighbors with the large sexual organs, and as you added to your seductions, you provoked me to anger. ²⁷ So I used my power against you, cut off your allowance, and gave you up to the passions of the Philistine women who had been confounded by your infamous ways and had rejected you. ²⁸ Still not satisfied, you prostituted yourself to the Assyrians, but they weren’t enough for you either. ²⁹ So you prostituted yourself with the Babylonians, the land of traders, but again you weren’t satisfied. ³⁰ How sick was your heart—the Lord God proclaims—that you could do all these things, the deeds of a hardened prostitute. ³¹ But you weren’t like an ordinary prostitute! When you built your pavilion at the head of every street and made your platform in every square, you refused to be paid. ³² You are like an adulterous wife: you take in strangers instead of your husband. ³³ Ordinary prostitutes are given gifts, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers. From every direction you even bribed them to come to you for your sexual favors. ³⁴ As a prostitute, you were more perverse than other women. No one approached you for sexual favors, but you yourself gave gifts instead of receiving them. You are perversion itself! ³⁵ Therefore, you prostitute, hear the Lord’s word!

³⁶ The Lord God proclaims: You were in a constant state of arousal^[c] and exposed yourself when you acted like a prostitute with your lovers and with the idols to which you gave your children’s blood. ³⁷ Therefore, I will now gather all of your lovers whom you pleased, the ones you loved and the ones you rejected. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose you to them. They will see it all. ³⁸ I will convict you of adultery and murder, and I will hand you over in bloody fury and zeal. ³⁹ I will hand you over to them, and they will tear down your pavilion and destroy your platforms. They will strip you of your garments, take your beautiful jewels, and they will leave you completely naked. ⁴⁰ They will bring an army against you, pelt you with stones, and slaughter you with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn down your houses and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. I will bring an end to your prostitution; indeed, you will never again give payment. ⁴² When I’ve satisfied my anger, and my rage has turned away from you, I will be calm and no longer angry. ⁴³ Because you didn’t remember your youthful days, and infuriated me with all these things, I will hold you accountable for what you’ve done. This is what the Lord God says.

Have you not added bad reputation to all your detestable acts? ⁴⁴ Now everyone who speaks in proverbs will say this about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” ⁴⁵ You are your mother’s daughter! She loathed her husband and also her children. You are just like your sisters too! They also loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. ⁴⁶ Your older sister is Samaria, who lives with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister is Sodom, who lives with her daughters in the south. ⁴⁷ You didn’t follow in their ways or engage in their detestable practices in any small way. You were far more destructive. ⁴⁸ As surely as I live, says the Lord God, not even your sister Sodom and her daughters did what you and your daughters have done! ⁴⁹ This is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud, had plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity; but she didn’t help the poor and the needy. ⁵⁰ They became haughty and did detestable things in front of me, and I turned away from them as soon as I saw it.

⁵¹ Samaria didn’t sin even half as much as you did. You’ve so outstripped her in multiplying your detestable practices, with all the detestable things you’ve done, that you’ve even made your sisters seem innocent. ⁵² Bear your disgrace, which has actually improved your sisters’ position. Because your sins and detestable acts were greater than theirs, they are now more righteous than you. Be ashamed, and bear the disgrace of making your sisters righteous! ⁵³ I will improve the circumstances of Sodom and her daughters and the circumstances of Samaria and her daughters. And what’s left of your fortune will go to them, ⁵⁴ so that you will bear your disgrace and be humiliated by all that you’ve done to make them feel better. ⁵⁵ Then your sister Sodom and her daughters will return to their former state, and your sister Samaria and her daughters will return to their former state. You and your daughters will return to your former state, ⁵⁶ but you will no longer talk about your sister Sodom as in your haughty days ⁵⁷ before your wickedness was exposed. You are now the reproach of all the daughters of Edom^[d] and all those around her, including the daughters of the Philistines. They mock you on every side. ⁵⁸ You alone must bear your bad reputation and your detestable ways. This is what the Lord says.

⁵⁹ The Lord God proclaims: I will do to you just as you have done, despising solemn pledges and breaking covenants. ⁶⁰ Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹ And you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when in spite of your covenant I^[e] take your big sisters and little sisters from you and give them back to you as daughters. ⁶² I myself will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶³ Then you will remember and be ashamed, and you won’t even open your mouth because of your shame, after I’ve forgiven you for all that you’ve done. This is what the Lord God says.

Transplanted cedar

17 The Lord’s word came to me: ² Human one, compose a riddle and a parable about the house of Israel. ³ Say, The Lord God proclaims: The great eagle with great wings, long feathers, and full, colorful plumage came to Lebanon and took the top branch of the cedar. ⁴ He plucked a twig from the cedar’s crown, brought it to the land of traders, and set it down in a city of merchants. ⁵ He took a native seed and planted it in a prepared field, placing it like a willow beside plentiful water. ⁶ It grew and became a low-spreading vine. Its foliage turned toward him, and its roots developed under him. And so it became a vine, and it produced branches and sent out its shoots.

⁷ Now there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage. This vine bent its roots and turned its branches toward him so that it might draw more water from him than from its own bed, ⁸ a good field with plentiful water where it was planted to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a splendid vine. ⁹ Say, The Lord God proclaims: Will it thrive? Won’t he tear out its roots, strip its fruit, and cause all the leaves of its branches to wither? It will dry up, and no one will need a strong arm or a mighty army to uproot it. ¹⁰ Though it is planted, will it thrive? When the east wind touches it, won’t it completely wither? On the bed in which it was planted, it will wither away.

¹¹ The Lord’s word came to me: ¹² Say now to the rebellious household: Don’t you know what these things mean? Say: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and carried its king and its officers away with him to Babylon. ¹³ Then he took a prince from the royal line, made an agreement with him, and made him take a solemn pledge of loyalty. He also took away the land’s officials. ¹⁴ Thus it would be a lowly kingdom, not asserting its own interests but observing the agreement so that it would survive. ¹⁵ But the prince rebelled against him and sent messengers to Egypt to supply him with horses and a great army. Can such a person succeed? Can one who does these things escape? Can he overturn the agreement and escape capture? ¹⁶ As surely as I live, says the Lord God, he will die in Babylon, in the place of the king who gave him the authority to rule, whose solemn pledge he scorned and whose agreement he overturned. ¹⁷ Pharaoh won’t help him. There will be no strong force or mighty army in battle when siege ramps are set up and towers are built to eliminate many lives. ¹⁸ He scorned the solemn pledge and overturned the agreement! Even though he made a promise, he did all these things, and he won’t escape capture. ¹⁹ So now the Lord God proclaims: As surely as I live, it was my solemn pledge that he scorned and my agreement that he overturned, and I will hold him accountable. ²⁰ I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon, and I myself will enter into judgment with him there for rebelling against me. ²¹ All his elite fighters^[f] along with all his troops will fall by the sword, and those who are left will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

²² The Lord God proclaims: I myself will take one of the top branches from the tall cedar. I will pluck a tender shoot from its crown, and I myself will plant it on a very high and lofty mountain. ²³ On Israel’s mountainous highlands I will plant it, and it will send out branches and bear fruit. It will grow into a mighty cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it and find shelter in the shade of its boughs. ²⁴ Then all the trees in the countryside will know that I, the Lord, bring down the tall tree and raise up the lowly tree, and make the green tree wither and the dry tree bloom. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.

Sins of parents and children

18 The Lord’s word came to me: ² What do you mean by this proverb of yours about the land of Israel: “When parents eat unripe grapes, the children’s teeth suffer”? ³ As surely as I live, says the Lord God, no longer will you use this proverb in Israel! ⁴ All lives are mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child belong to me. Only the one who sins will die.

⁵ People are declared innocent when they act justly and responsibly. ⁶ They don’t eat on the hills or give their attention to the idols of the house of Israel. They don’t defile the wives of their neighbors or approach menstruating women. ⁷ They don’t cheat anyone, but fulfill their obligations. They don’t rob others, but give food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. ⁸ They don’t impose interest or take profit. They refrain from evil and settle cases between people fairly. ⁹ They follow my regulations, keep my case laws, and act faithfully. Such people are innocent, and they will live, proclaims the Lord God.

¹⁰ But suppose one of them has a violent child who sheds blood or does any one of these things, ¹¹ even though his parents didn’t do any of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, robs others and doesn’t fulfill his obligations, pays attention to the idols and does detestable things, ¹³ and takes interest and profit. Should he live? He should not. He engaged in all these detestable practices. He will surely die, and his blood will be on him.

¹⁴ But suppose he has a child who sees all the sins that his father committed. He becomes alarmed and doesn’t do them. ¹⁵ He doesn’t eat on the mountains or pay attention to the idols of the house of Israel. He doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife. ¹⁶ He doesn’t cheat anyone, either by seizing collateral for loans or committing robbery. He gives his food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. ¹⁷ He refrains from oppressing the poor by taking neither interest nor profit. He observes my case laws and follows my regulations. He won’t die because of his father’s guilt. He will surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father: If he exploited the weak or committed robbery, or did anything else that wasn’t good for the people, he will die because of his own guilt.

¹⁹ You will say, “Why doesn’t the child bear his parent’s guilt?” The child has acted justly and responsibly. The child kept all my regulations and observed them. The child will surely live. ²⁰ Only the one who sins will die. A child won’t bear a parent’s guilt, and a parent won’t bear a child’s guilt. Those who do right will be declared innocent, and the wicked will be declared guilty.

²¹ But if the wicked turn away from all the sins that they have committed, keep all my regulations, and act justly and responsibly, they will surely live and not die. ²² None of the sins that they committed will be held against them, but they will live because they do the right things. ²³ Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Certainly not! If they change their ways, they will live.

²⁴ If those who do the right thing turn from righteousness and engage in the same detestable practices that the wicked committed, can they do these things and live? None of their righteous deeds will be remembered. They will die because of their treacheries and sins. ²⁵ But you say, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Listen, house of Israel, is it my ways that don’t measure up? Isn’t it your ways that don’t measure up? ²⁶ When those who do the right thing turn from their responsible ways and act maliciously, they will die because of it. For their malicious acts they will die. ²⁷ And when the wicked turn from their wicked deeds and act justly and responsibly, they will preserve their lives. ²⁸ When they become alarmed and turn away from all their sins, they will surely live; they won’t die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Is it my ways that don’t measure up? Isn’t it your ways that don’t measure up, house of Israel? ³⁰ Therefore, I will judge each of you according to your ways, house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. Turn, turn away from all your sins. Don’t let them be sinful obstacles for you. ³¹ Abandon all of your repeated sins. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? ³² I most certainly don’t want anyone to die! This is what the Lord God says. Change your ways, and live!

A mother’s sons

19 You, raise a lament for Israel’s princes. ² Say:

The proud mother

This is a lamentation, and it will serve as a lamentation.

History of rebellion

20 In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of Israel’s elders came to inquire of the Lord. As they were sitting with me, ² the Lord’s word came to me: ³ Human one, speak to Israel’s elders and say to them, The Lord God proclaims: Have you come to petition me? As surely as I live, I reject your petitions. This is what the Lord God says! ⁴ Will you judge them, human one, will you judge them? Then expose to them the detestable practices of their ancestors. ⁵ Say to them, The Lord God proclaims: On the day I chose Israel, I swore a solemn pledge to the descendants of Jacob’s household. When I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I swore a solemn pledge: I am the Lord your God. ⁶ On that day I swore that I would lead them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I would show them, a land full of milk and honey, the most splendid of all lands. ⁷ And I said to them, Every one of you must cast away your disgusting things. Don’t let yourselves be defiled by Egypt’s idols. I am the Lord your God. ⁸ But they rebelled against me and refused to listen to me. No one cast off their disgusting things or abandoned their Egyptian idols. So I declared that I would pour out my wrath on them and satisfy my anger against them in the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted for my name’s sake, so that it wouldn’t be degraded in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, and in whose sight I made it known that I would lead them out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the desert. ¹¹ I gave them my regulations and made known to them my case laws, which bring life to all who observe them. ¹² I also gave them my sabbaths as a sign between us that I, the Lord, have set them apart for my purpose.^{[i] 13} But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They didn’t follow my regulations and rejected my case laws, which bring life to all who observe them. They completely degraded my sabbaths. So I declared that I would pour out my anger against them and destroy them in the desert. ¹⁴ But instead, I acted for the sake of my name so that it wouldn’t be degraded in the sight of the nations who saw me lead them out of Egypt. ¹⁵ So in the desert I swore another solemn pledge, that I wouldn’t bring them to the land that I had given to them, a land full of milk and honey, a land more splendid than any other, ¹⁶ because they rejected my case laws, didn’t follow my regulations, and degraded my sabbaths. They had their hearts set on their idols. ¹⁷ But I had too much compassion to destroy them, so I didn’t put an end to them in the desert.

¹⁸ In the desert, I said to their children, Don’t follow your parents’ regulations or observe their case laws or become defiled by their idols. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God! Follow my regulations! Observe my case laws and do them! ²⁰ Make my sabbaths holy, and let them be a sign between us that I am the Lord your God. ²¹ But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t follow my regulations or observe my case laws, which bring life to all who observe them. They also degraded my sabbaths. So I declared that I would pour out my wrath on them and satisfy my anger against them in the desert. ²² But I restrained myself and acted for the sake of my name so that it wouldn’t be diminished in the sight of the nations who saw me lead them out of Egypt. ²³ And I swore yet another solemn pledge in the desert, that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the earth, ²⁴ because they didn’t observe my case laws, they rejected my regulations, and they degraded my sabbaths while they kept looking to their parents’ idols. ²⁵ I also issued regulations that were not good and case laws by which they could not live. ²⁶ I defiled them with their very gifts when they offered up all their oldest children. They were supposed to be so horrified that they would acknowledge that I am the Lord.

²⁷ Therefore, human one, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, The Lord God proclaims: Yet again your ancestors defamed me by rebelling against me! ²⁸ I brought them into the land that I swore to give to them. But when they saw all the high hills and lofty trees, there they made their sacrifices: irksome offerings here, pleasing aromas there, and drink offerings elsewhere! ²⁹ I said to them, What shrine are you going to now? So it’s called Shrine^[j] to this very day.

³⁰ So now say to the house of Israel, The Lord God proclaims: Will you defile yourselves as your ancestors did, and will you prostitute yourself after their disgusting things? ³¹ When you offer up your gifts and make your children pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Should I let you seek me out, house of Israel? This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, I won’t let you seek me. ³² What is in your minds will never happen! You’ve been saying, “Let’s be like the nations and the clans of the lands in the service of wood and stone.” ³³ This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be your king! ³⁴ I will lead you out from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you’ve been scattered—yes, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out! ³⁵ I will march you out to the wilderness nations, and there I will judge you face-to-face. ³⁶ Just as I judged your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you. This is what the Lord God says. ³⁷ I will make you walk under the rod, and I will bring you into the covenant bond. ³⁸ I will remove from among you those who rebel and transgress against me. I will lead them out from the land where they lived as immigrants, but they won’t enter Israel’s fertile land. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ But to you, house of Israel, the Lord God proclaims: Go ahead and serve your idols, all of you! But afterward, if any of you are left to listen to me,^[k] you will no longer make my holy name impure with your gifts or your idols! ⁴⁰ On my holy mountain, on the high mountain in Israel, the whole house of Israel will serve me there—every one of them in the land! This is what the Lord God says. There I will accept them, and there I will ask for their offerings, their finest gifts, and all their holy things. ⁴¹ When I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you are scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. Through you I will be made holy in the sight of the nations. ⁴² Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you to Israel’s fertile land, to the land that I swore to give to your ancestors. ⁴³ There you will remember how your ways and all your wicked deeds defiled you, and you will loathe yourselves for all the wicked things that you’ve done. ⁴⁴ Then, house of Israel, you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my name and not according to your wicked ways and ruinous deeds. This is what the Lord God says.

Fire in the southern plain

^45 [l] The Lord’s word came to me: ⁴⁶ Human one, face Teman, preach against the south, and prophesy against the thicket in the arid southern plain. ⁴⁷ Say to the thicket in the arid southern plain: Hear the Lord God’s word. This is what the Lord God says: I’m about to set a fire in you, and it will consume every green and every dry tree in you. Its blazing flame won’t be put out, and everything from south to north will be scorched. ⁴⁸ Everyone will see that I, the Lord, have set it on fire. It won’t be quenched. ⁴⁹ Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! They say about me, ‘Isn’t he one for making metaphors?’”

The sword

21 ^[m] The Lord’s word came to me: ² Human one, face Jerusalem, preach against their sanctuary, and prophesy against Israel’s fertile land. ³ Say to Israel’s fertile land, The Lord proclaims: I’m now against you! I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you. ⁴ In order to cut off the righteous and wicked from you, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone from south to north. ⁵ And everyone will know that I, the Lord, have taken my sword out of its sheath. It won’t be put away again.

⁶ You, human one, groan in their sight; groan bitterly with trembling knees. ⁷ If they ask you why you’re groaning, say to them, “Because of the news.” When it comes, every heart will despair, every hand will hang lifeless, every spirit will be listless, and urine will run down every leg. It’s coming! It will happen! This is what the Lord God says.

The sword dance

⁸ The Lord’s word came to me: ⁹ Human one, prophesy! Say, The Lord proclaims! Say:

Guilt remembered

¹⁸ The Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁹ You, human one, mark two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon. They should diverge from a single country. Where the road to the city begins, set up a sign, ²⁰ and point out the way for the sword to come: “To Rabbah of the Ammonites” or “To Judah in its stronghold Jerusalem.” ²¹ The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road where the two roads begin and performs his divinations. He shakes the arrows, consults the divine images, and inspects the liver. ²² On his right side appeared the omen for Jerusalem: to put battering rams in place, to proclaim war and raise the alarm, to place battering rams against the gates, and to set up siege ramps and build towers. ²³ It seems to them like a lying divination, because solemn pledges had been sworn to them. But he will remind them of their guilt, and they will be captured.

²⁴ So the Lord God proclaims: Now that you have remembered your guilt and your treacheries are exposed, your sins can be seen in everything you do. Because you have brought your guilt to light, you will be captured! ²⁵ But you vile, wicked prince of Israel whose day has come, the time of final punishment, ²⁶ this is what the Lord God says: Remove the turban, take off the crown! Nothing will be as it was. Bring down the exalted, and exalt the lowly. ²⁷ A ruin, ruin, ruin, I’ll make it! Such a thing has never happened! Even before the rightful judge comes, I’ve handed it over to him.

Avenging Ammon’s disgrace

²⁸ You, human one, prophesy and say, The Lord God proclaims to the Ammonites concerning their disgrace. Say, Sword! Sword unsheathed for slaughter, burnished, battle-ready,^[p] flashing like lightning: ²⁹ False visions and lying divinations set you against the necks of vile, wicked men whose day had come, the time of final punishment. ³⁰ Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹ I will pour out my wrath against you. With a raging fire I will blow against you, and I will hand you over to those who burn and forge destruction. ³² Fire will consume you, your blood will sink into the earth, and you will no longer be remembered. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Bloody city

22 The Lord’s word came to me: ² You, human one, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then explain all her detestable practices to her. ³ Say, The Lord God proclaims: City, self-destructive blood-letter, self-defiling idol maker: ⁴ All the blood that you’ve shed is your punishment, and all the idols that you’ve made are your defilement. This is how you’ve shortened your days and hastened the end^[q] of your years! For this reason I’ve given you over to the ridicule of nations and the derision of every land. ⁵ Those from near and far will mock your infamous name and great chaos. ⁶ Look, Israel’s princes, every one of them, have joined forces to shed blood in you. ⁷ In you they treat father and mother with contempt. In you they oppress immigrants and deny the rights of orphans and widows. ⁸ You despise my holy things and degrade my sabbaths. ⁹ In you slanderers show up to shed blood. In you they eat on the mountains. In you they do obscene things. ¹⁰ In you a father’s nakedness is uncovered. In you menstruating women are violated. ¹¹ Every man engages in detestable practices with his neighbor’s wife, every man defiles his daughter-in-law with obscene acts, and every man violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. ¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood. You collect interest and fees, you profit by extorting your neighbor, and you neglect even me! This is what the Lord God says.

¹³ I now strike my hands over your ill-gotten gain and blood that’s been shed in you. ¹⁴ Will your strength and courage endure when I deal with you? I am the Lord: I speak, and I act! ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you throughout the lands, and so I will remove your uncleanness from you. ¹⁶ When you are degraded^[r] like this in the sight of the nations, then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ The Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁸ Human one, the house of Israel has become a waste product for me. They are all copper, tin, iron, and lead. In the furnace, they’ve become the waste product of silver. ¹⁹ So this is what the Lord God says: Because you’ve all become a waste product, I’m now gathering you into the middle of Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are collected and placed in a furnace to fan the flames under them and melt them down, so in my anger and rage I will collect you, put you in, and melt you down. ²¹ I will gather you, fan the flames of my wrath under you, and melt you down in the middle of it. ²² As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it. You will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my rage on you.

²³ The Lord’s word came to me: ²⁴ Human one, say to her, You are an unclean land without rain on the day of reckoning. ²⁵ The conspiracy of princes^[s] in her is like a roaring lion ripping up prey. They’ve piled up wealth and precious goods and made many widows in her. ²⁶ Her priests have done violence to my instructions and made my holy things impure. They have not clearly separated the holy from the ordinary, and they have not taught the difference between unclean and clean things. They’ve disregarded my sabbaths. So I’ve been degraded among them. ²⁷ The officials in her are like wolves ripping up prey. They shed blood and destroy lives for unjust riches. ²⁸ Her prophets have whitewashed everything for them, seeing false visions and making wrong predictions for them, saying, “This is what the Lord God says,” when the Lord hasn’t spoken. ²⁹ The important people of the land have practiced extortion and have committed robbery. They’ve oppressed the poor and mistreated the immigrant. They’ve oppressed and denied justice. ³⁰ I looked for anyone to repair the wall and stand in the gap for me on behalf of the land, so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. But I couldn’t find anyone. ³¹ So I’ve poured out my anger on them. With my furious fire I’ve finished them off. I’ve held them accountable. This is what the Lord God proclaims.

Two sisters

23 The Lord’s word came to me: ² Human one, there were two women, daughters of one woman. ³ When they were girls in Egypt, they began to prostitute themselves by allowing their young and nubile breasts to be touched and fondled. ⁴ The older sister was named Oholah, and the younger sister was named Oholibah. They became mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Now Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. ⁵ But Oholah became unfaithful to me and lusted after her lovers the Assyrians: ⁶ warriors dressed in fine blue cloth, governors and officers, charioteers and horsemen, all of them the most handsome of men. ⁷ She sought them out to seduce them, all of them men of the highest rank of Assyria. She defiled herself by everyone she lusted after and also by all their idols. ⁸ But she never gave up her promiscuities with the Egyptians, who had slept with her in her girlhood and fondled her nubile breasts, and who continued to seduce her. ⁹ Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians for whom she lusted. ¹⁰ They stripped her naked, took her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. And she became notorious among women for the punishments they enacted against her.

¹¹ Her sister Oholibah saw it, and she proceeded to outdo her sister in her lust and in her seductions. ¹² She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officers, warriors richly clothed, charioteers and horsemen, all of them the most handsome of men. ¹³ I saw that she too defiled herself. Both had the same tendencies, ¹⁴ but she was even more promiscuous. She saw men carved in wall reliefs, images of Chaldeans outlined in vermilion, ¹⁵ wearing only loincloths around their hips and flowing headbands on their heads. All of them had the appearance of warriors of the third rank, the likeness of Babylonians whose native land is Chaldea. ¹⁶ Aroused just by looking at them, she sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ The Babylonians came to her to lie down and make love with her, defiling her with their seductions. But once she had defiled herself with them, she recoiled from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When her seductions became known and her nakedness exposed, I recoiled from her just as I had recoiled from her sister. ¹⁹ But she added to her promiscuities, bringing to mind her youthful days when she was a prostitute in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She lusted after their male consorts, whose sexual organs were like those of donkeys, and whose ejaculation was like that of horses. ²¹ She relived the wicked days of her youth, when the Egyptians touched and fondled her young and nubile breasts.

²² So Oholibah, the Lord God proclaims: I’m now inciting your lovers against you, all those from whom you recoiled, and I will bring them against you from all around— ²³ Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all the Assyrians with them, the most handsome young men, all of them governors and officers, career officers and conscripts, all of them on horseback. ²⁴ They will come against you with weapons,^[t] chariots, and wagons, and with a great army, with shield, buckler, and helmet; and they will surround you. I will hand your punishment over to them, and they will judge you according to their laws. ²⁵ I will direct my passion against you, and they will deal with you in wrath. They will cut off your nose and ears, and those who are left will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and those who are left will be burned with fire. ²⁶ They will strip your clothing from you and remove your beautiful crown. ²⁷ That’s how I will put an end to your lewdness and your Egyptian-styled promiscuity. Never again will you stare at them, and you won’t remember Egypt anymore. ²⁸ The Lord God proclaims: I’m now handing you over to those whom you hate and from whom you recoil. ²⁹ They will deal hatefully with you: They will seize your pay and leave you completely naked. Your promiscuity, betrayal, and seductions will be exposed. ³⁰ This will be done to you because you sold yourself to the nations and became defiled by their idols. ³¹ You followed in your sister’s path, so I have put her cup into your hand.

³² The Lord God proclaims:

³⁵ So now the Lord God proclaims: Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you alone will bear the consequences of your betrayal and promiscuities.

³⁶ Then the Lord said to me, Human one, judge Oholah and Oholibah, and make known their detestable practices to them. ³⁷ They committed adultery, so now blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols, and they even took their children whom they had borne to me and offered them up to be consumed for them. ³⁸ They also did this to me: On the same day, they made my sanctuary unclean and made my sabbaths impure. ³⁹ When they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came into my sanctuary and made it impure on that very same day. They actually did this inside my temple.