Bible in 90 Days

²² Son of man, what is this saying that you have about the homeland of Israel: “The days keep going by, and every vision fails”?

²³ Therefore say this to them. This is what the Lord God says. I will put an end to this saying, and they will no longer use it as a saying in Israel. On the contrary, say to them, “The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.” ²⁴ For no longer will there be any empty, unreliable visions or slippery, misleading omens within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I am the Lord. Whatever word I speak will be fulfilled. It will be delayed no longer. For in your own days, you rebellious house, I will speak a word and fulfill it, declares the Lord God.

²⁷ Son of man, listen to what the house of Israel is saying: “The vision that he is seeing is for many days in the future, and he is prophesying for distant times.” ²⁸ Therefore, tell the Israelites this is what the Lord God says. None of my words will be delayed any longer, because I will speak a word and it will be fulfilled, declares the Lord God.

² Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying. You are to say to the prophets who prophesy from their own heart: Hear the word of the Lord.

³ This is what the Lord God says. Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and prophesy things which they have not seen. ⁴ Israel, your prophets are like jackals among the ruins. ⁵ You have not stepped up into the breaks in the wall, nor have you repaired the wall for the house of Israel, so that it could stand up in battle on the Day of the Lord. ⁶ They see empty visions and their omens predict lies—those who say, “The declaration of the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. ⁷ Have you not, in fact, seen an empty vision and predicted lies when you say, “The declaration of the Lord,” when, in fact, I have not spoken? ⁸ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you have spoken empty words and have seen a lying vision, therefore, I am surely against you, declares the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will come upon the prophets who see empty visions and predict a lie. They will not remain in the council of my people. They will not be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰ This will happen precisely because they have misled my people by saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace. When someone builds a flimsy wall, look how the false prophets daub it with a coat of mud plaster.^{[a] 11} Tell those who are daubing with plaster that the wall will fall. There will be driving rain, large hailstones will fall,^[b] and a violent wind will break out, ¹² and suddenly the wall will fall. Won’t they say to you, “Where is the mud plaster you daubed on now?”

¹³ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. In my wrath I will make a violent wind break out, and there will be driving rain because of my anger. In my wrath I will send large hailstones that bring destruction. ¹⁴ I will demolish the wall that you have daubed with mud plaster. I will level it to the ground, so that its foundation will be exposed. It will fall, and you will perish within the city. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ In this way I will exhaust my wrath against the wall and against those who daubed it with mud plaster, and I will say to you, “Gone is the wall, and gone are those who daubed on it— ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who are prophesying about Jerusalem and who proclaim a vision of peace about her when there is no peace, declares the Lord God.”

¹⁷ You, son of man, are to set your face against the daughters of your people, who are prophesying ecstatically from their own hearts. You are to prophesy against them. ¹⁸ You are to say that this is what the Lord God says.

³ Son of man, these men have set up their filthy idols^[g] in their hearts, and they have placed a stumbling block that makes them guilty in front of their faces. So should I really let them consult me? ⁴ Therefore, speak with them and tell them this is what the Lord God says.

Whenever anyone from the house of Israel sets up his filthy idols in his heart or sets the stumbling block that makes him guilty in front of his face and he then comes to a prophet, I, the Lord, will give him an answer appropriate to the multitude of his filthy idols, ⁵ so that I may capture the hearts of the house of Israel, for all of them have alienated themselves from me with their filthy idols. ⁶ Therefore, tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord God says. Repent and turn away from your filthy idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.

⁷ Certainly, anyone from the house of Israel or an alien who is residing in Israel, if he alienates himself from me and sets up his filthy idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block that makes him guilty in front of his face, and he then comes to a prophet to seek my guidance for himself, I myself, the Lord, will give him an answer. ⁸ I will set my face against that man, and I will make him into a sign and a notorious example, and I will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ If a prophet acts like a fool^[h] and speaks a message, I, the Lord, have made a fool of that prophet.^[i] I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰ They will bear their guilt. The guilt of the one who seeks guidance will be the same as the guilt of the prophet, ¹¹ so that the house of Israel will no longer stray from following me, and they will never again defile themselves by all their rebellious acts. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Lord God.

¹³ Son of man, when a land sins against me by adding one act of infidelity to another, so that I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its bread supply,^[j] to send famine against it, and to cut off man and beast from it, ¹⁴ even if these three men were in its midst—Noah, Daniel, and Job—by their righteousness they would save only their own lives, declares the Lord God.

¹⁵ If I cause wild animals to pass through the land and they rob it of its children, so that it becomes desolate, and no one can pass through because of the wild animals, ¹⁶ and if these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be devastated.

¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “A sword shall pass through the land,” and I cut off from it man and beast, ¹⁸ and these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved.

¹⁹ Or if I send a plague on that land, and with bloodshed I pour out my wrath on it to cut off man and beast from it, ²⁰ and if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters. By their righteousness they would save only their own lives.

²¹ For this is what the Lord God says. How much worse it will be when I send my four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—upon Jerusalem to cut off man and beast from it!

²² But wait! A group of survivors will be left in it, those sons and daughters who will be brought out. Look! They are coming out to you, and you shall see their ways and their actions. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem, everything that I brought upon it. ²³ And they will comfort you, because you will see their ways and their actions. Then you will know that it was not without cause that I did everything that I did against the city, declares the Lord God.

² Son of man, what can be done with the wood of a grapevine compared to the wood from the branches of all the other trees in the forest? ³ Can its wood be used to make something useful? Can people make a peg from it to hang things on? ⁴ No, it is fed into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned up. Is it useful for any purpose then? ⁵ Since it could not be used for any purpose when it was undamaged, how much less can it be used to make anything useful after the fire has devoured it and it has been burned! ⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord says. Like the wood of the grapevine from among the trees of the forest, which I have fed into the fire for fuel, in the same way I will feed the inhabitants of Jerusalem into the fire. ⁷ I will set my face against them. They have come out from the fire, but the fire will still devour them. Then you will know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them. ⁸ I will make the land desolate because they added one infidelity to another, declares the Lord God.

² Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations. ³ Tell them this is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem.

Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ This is the way it was at your birth. On the day you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not washed with water to clean you up.^[l] You were not rubbed down with salt, nor were you tightly wrapped with cloths. ⁵ No eye looked at you with pity to do any of these things for you or to show compassion to you. On the day you were born, you were thrown out in the open field without regard for your life.

⁶ I passed by, and I saw you squirming in your blood. I said to you, “You there, lying there in your blood, live!” and I said to you, “You there, lying there in your blood, live!”^{[m] 7} I made you grow like a sprout in the field. You grew up, you developed, and you became very beautiful.^[n] Your breasts were formed and your hair had appeared, but you were completely naked. ⁸ I passed by and saw you, and I noticed that you were old enough for love.^[o] So I spread the skirt of my robe over you and covered your nakedness. I swore an oath to you to enter into a covenant of marriage with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. ⁹ I washed you with water. I washed your blood off you. I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I clothed you with the finest embroidered material and gave you sandals of luxurious leather.^[p] I wrapped your head in the best linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. ¹² I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears, and a glorious crown on your head. ¹³ So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of the best linen, with silk and the finest embroidered material. You ate fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You were extraordinarily beautiful, and you attained the status of a queen. ¹⁴ Your fame spread throughout the nations because of your beauty. In fact, it was perfect because of my splendor, which I had bestowed upon you, declares the Lord God.

¹⁵ But you trusted in your beauty, and, relying on your fame, you acted like a prostitute. You lavished your lust on every man passing by—you became his. ¹⁶ You took some of your clothing and made colorful high places for yourself and acted like a prostitute on them. Such things should not happen. They should not be! ¹⁷ You took your glorious articles made from my gold and my silver, which I had given to you, and you made male idols for yourself, and you acted like a prostitute with them. ¹⁸ You took your clothing made of the finest embroidered material and covered the idols, and you set my oil and my incense in front of them. ¹⁹ Also my food which I gave you—the fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you—you set in front of them as a fragrant sacrifice. This is what happened, declares the Lord God.

²⁰ You even took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore for me, and sacrificed them as food for the idols. Was your continual prostitution not enough? ²¹ Did you have to slaughter my children and offer them to the idols by making them pass through the fire? ²² With all your abominations and your prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were completely naked, when you were squirming about in your blood. ²³ So after all your wickedness—woe, woe to you, says the Lord God!— ²⁴ you built for yourself a platform,^[q] and you made a pavilion^[r] for yourself in every public square. ²⁵ At the corner of every street you set up your pavilion and made your beauty into a disgusting thing. You spread your legs for every man passing by, and you multiplied your acts of prostitution. ²⁶ You acted like a whore with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors with their enlarged flesh,^[s] and you multiplied your acts of prostitution to enrage me!

²⁷ Look at how I stretched out my hand against you. I reduced your territory. I gave you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were embarrassed by your lewd ways. ²⁸ You acted like a whore with the sons of the Assyrians because you were insatiable. Even after your acts of prostitution with them, you were not satisfied. ²⁹ So you extended your whoring ways to the land of merchants, to Chaldea, but even with this you were not satisfied. ³⁰ How sick your heart is, says the Lord God, that you did all these things, the behavior of a woman who is a domineering whore! ³¹ When you built your platform at the corner of every street and you made your pavilion in every public square, you were not like an ordinary prostitute, because you refused payment. ³² You adulterous wife, who procures strange men instead of her husband, ³³ to all prostitutes men pay a fee, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from all around to join your whoring ways. ³⁴ You were the opposite of the other women in your whoring ways. You were not solicited for prostitution, but you gave payment to your lovers. Instead of payment being given to you, you were the very opposite.

³⁵ Therefore, you whore, hear the word of the Lord! ³⁶ This is what the Lord God says. Because your moisture^[t] was poured out, and your nakedness was exposed during your whoring ways with your lovers, because of all your disgusting, filthy idols, and because of the blood of your children, whom you gave to them, ³⁷ for all this, I am about to gather all your lovers to whom you were giving pleasure—all those you loved, as well as all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around. I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see your nakedness. ³⁸ I will judge you with the judgments deserved by women who commit adultery and who shed blood. I will make you bloody in my wrath and jealousy.^{[u] 39} I will deliver you into their hands, and they will tear down your platform, demolish your pavilion, strip you of your clothing, take away your glorious jewelry, and leave you completely naked. ⁴⁰ They will bring up a mob against you, and they will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn down your houses with fire and carry out judgments against you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop being a whore, and you will never again give a payment. ⁴² Then I will lay to rest my wrath against you, and my jealousy will turn away from you. I will be calm and no longer be angry.

⁴³ Because you^[v] did not remember the days of your youth, and you made me angry during all these actions, I myself will certainly bring your conduct down upon your head. That is the declaration of the Lord God! Haven’t you added lewdness to all your abominations? ⁴⁴ Hear this! Everyone will speak this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” ⁴⁵ You are a true daughter of your mother, who despises her husband and her children, and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despise their husbands and their children. The mother of all of you was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite. ⁴⁶ Your older sister is Samaria, who along with her daughters^[w] lives north of you, and your younger sister, who lives south of you along with her daughters, is Sodom. ⁴⁷ You did not merely walk in their ways or act according to their abominations, since in a very short time you became more depraved in all your ways than they were. ⁴⁸ As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom along with her daughters has not done what you have done along with your daughters. ⁴⁹ Look, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: Pride, overindulgence in food, and complacent ease were the way for her and her daughters, and she failed to strengthen the hands^[x] of the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They were haughty, and they committed abominations in my presence, and so I removed them when I saw it. ⁵¹ Samaria did not sin half as much as you did. You multiplied your abominations more than they did. You made your sisters appear righteous by all your abominations which you committed. ⁵² So you must bear your disgrace, because by your sins you appeared to plead your sisters’ case for them. Because of your sins—you acted more repulsively than they did—they appear more righteous than you. So you must be ashamed and bear your disgrace, because you made your sisters appear righteous. ⁵³ I will bring about their restoration—the restoration of Sodom and her daughters, and the restoration of Samaria and her daughters, as well as your complete restoration in their midst, ⁵⁴ so that you will bear your disgrace, and you will be ashamed of everything you did when you appeared to give them comfort. ⁵⁵ 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, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. ⁵⁶ Wasn’t your sister Sodom a subject for gossip in your mouth during the days when you were so proud, ⁵⁷ in the days before your own wickedness was exposed? So now in the same way you are subjected to scorn by the daughters of Edom^[y] and by all those around her and by the daughters of the Philistines, who scorn you from all sides. ⁵⁸ Your lewdness and your abominations, you must now bear, declares the Lord.

⁵⁹ So this is what the Lord God says. Shall I do with you just as you have done, you who despised your oath, thereby breaking the covenant? ⁶⁰ No, just the opposite, I myself will remember my covenant I made with you during the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant for you. ⁶¹ Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters who are older than you, in addition to those who are younger than you, and I will give them to you as daughters, and not outside your covenant.^{[z] 62} I myself will establish my covenant with you. Then you will know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ so that you may remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, when I make atonement for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.

A great eagle with powerful wings, with long feathers, and covered with multicolored plumes, came to Lebanon. He took the tip of a cedar. ⁴ He plucked off the newest shoot at the very top of the tree, and he carried it to a land of merchants. In a city of traders he planted it.

⁵ Then he took seed from the land and planted it in a fertile field, like a new plant beside plentiful water. He set it out like a willow twig, ⁶ so that it would sprout and become a spreading vine, low to the ground, so that its branches would turn toward the one who planted it^[aa] and its roots would remain under him. So it became a vine and produced shoots and leaves and branches.

⁷ But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and many plumes. Look at how this vine bent its roots toward him! From the bed where it had been planted, it stretched out its branches toward him, so that he could water it. ⁸ It had been planted in good soil beside plentiful water to grow branches, to bear fruit, and to become a magnificent vine.

⁹ Tell them this is what the Lord God says. Will it thrive? Won’t he pull up its roots and strip off its fruit so that it dries up? Won’t all its new growth dry up? No strong arm or mighty army will be needed to pluck it by its roots. ¹⁰ Although it has been planted, will it thrive? When the east wind touches it, won’t it shrivel up completely? On the very bed where it had sprouted, it will wither away.

Don’t you know what these things mean? Tell them this. You saw how the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. He took its king and its officials and brought them back to Babylon with him.

¹³ Then he took a member from the seed of the royal family, made a covenant^[ab] with him, and put him under an oath. He took away the leading men of the land ¹⁴ so that it would be a lowly kingdom, so that it would not rebel but would keep the covenant with him, so that it could survive. ¹⁵ But the prince^[ac] rebelled against that king by sending his envoys to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can someone who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still escape? ¹⁶ As I live, says the Lord God, in the land of the king who made him king,^[ad] whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in his presence in Babylon, he shall die. ¹⁷ He will not be joined by a mighty army or a great force during the war, because Pharaoh will not come when the enemy heaps up ramps and builds siege walls in order to cut off many lives. ¹⁸ The king despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Even though he had given his hand to seal the covenant, he did all these things. He shall not escape!

¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. As I live, because it was an oath taken in my name that the prince despised, I will bring down on his own head my covenant which he broke. ²⁰ I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me. ²¹ All his fugitives together with all his troops will fall by the sword, and the rest will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

²² This is what the Lord God says. I myself will take part of the tip of the cedar and plant it. From the topmost of its shoots I will pluck off a tender sprig, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³ On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it. It will produce branches, bear fruit, and become a magnificent cedar. Flying birds of every kind will live under it. In the shelter of its branches they will nest. ²⁴ Then all the trees in the countryside will know that I, the Lord, bring down the high tree and raise up the low tree, that I make the green tree dry up, and I make the dried-up tree blossom. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will carry it out.

² What do you mean, you who keep repeating this proverb concerning the soil of Israel, “Fathers eat sour grapes, and their sons’ teeth are set on edge”? ³ As surely as I live, declares the Lord God, you will never again use this proverb in Israel. ⁴ Indeed, all souls are mine. The soul of the father is mine just like the soul of the son. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

⁵ If a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, ⁶ if he does not eat on the mountains and does not lift up his eyes to the filthy idols^[ae] of the house of Israel, if he does not defile his neighbor’s wife and does not approach a woman during her period, ⁷ if he does not exploit anyone but returns the collateral given to him for a loan, if he does not seize another person’s property by force but gives his own food to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ⁸ if he does not deduct a fee from the money he lends to someone and he does not demand that people repay more than he lent them, if he holds back his hand from unrighteousness and administers impartial justice between two parties, ⁹ that is, if he walks in my statutes and keeps my ordinances by acting faithfully, that man is righteous and he will surely live, declares the Lord God.

¹⁰ Now if he fathers a violent son, who sheds blood or who does any one of these evil things to a brother^{[af] 11} (although the father did not do all these things), but the son goes so far as to eat on the mountains and even defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² exploits the poor and the needy, seizes other people’s property by force, does not return the collateral on a loan, lifts up his eyes to the filthy idols, commits abominations, ¹³ and deducts a fee from the money he lends to someone and demands that people repay more than he lent them—will he live? He will not live! He committed all these abominations, so he will surely be put to death. His blood will be upon him.

¹⁴ But if that son himself fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has committed, and though he sees, he does not do likewise— ¹⁵ he does not eat on the mountains, he does not lift up his eyes to the filthy idols of the house of Israel, he does not defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ he does not exploit anyone, he does not require collateral for a loan, he does not seize another person’s property by force, he gives his own food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothing, ¹⁷ he takes care not to harm the poor,^[ag] he does not deduct a fee from the money he lends someone or demand that people repay more than he lent them, but he keeps my ordinances and walks according to my statutes—that man will not die because of his father’s guilt. He will surely live. ¹⁸ But his father, if he practices extortion, seizes his brother’s goods by force, and does what was not good among his own people, he will surely die because of his own guilt.

¹⁹ But you ask, “Why doesn’t the son share in the guilt of the father?” Because the son did what was just and right. He kept all my statutes and carried them out, so he will surely live. ²⁰ The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share in the guilt of the father, and the father will not share in the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous person will be credited to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be charged against him alone.

²¹ A wicked man, if he turns away from^[ah] all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and carries out justice and righteousness, he will surely live. He will not die. ²² All of the rebellious acts that he had committed will not be remembered against him. Because of his righteousness that he has practiced, he will live. ²³ Do I really find any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Don’t I want him to turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and does what is unrighteous—namely, all the abominations that the wicked man practices—will he live? All the righteous deeds that he did will not be remembered. Because he added one infidelity to another and because of the sins that he has committed, because of them, he will die.

²⁵ But you say, “The Lord’s way is not fair.” Listen now, house of Israel. Is it my way that is not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? ²⁶ If a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices unrighteousness, he will die because of it. Because of the unrighteousness that he has practiced, he will die.

²⁷ But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has done and practices justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life. ²⁸ Because he has seen and turned away from^[ai] all the rebellious acts that he had committed, he will surely live, and he will not die. ²⁹ But the house of Israel says, “The Lord’s way is not fair.” Is it really my ways that are not fair, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

³⁰ Therefore, I will judge each one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn away from all your rebellious acts, so that you will not set out a stumbling block that makes you guilty. ³¹ Throw off from yourselves all your rebellious actions by which you have rebelled, and obtain a new heart and a new spirit for yourselves. Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God. So repent and live!

Are you really coming to consult me? As I live, I will not let myself be consulted by you, declares the Lord God.

⁴ Will you put them on trial?^[aq] Will you put them on trial, son of man? Remind them of the abominable practices of their fathers. ⁵ You are to tell them the following.

This is what the Lord God says. On the day when I chose Israel, when I swore with an uplifted hand to the descendants^[ar] of the house of Jacob, when I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, then I lifted up my hand to them in an oath. I said, “I am the Lord, your God.” ⁶ On that day I swore to them with an uplifted hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey. It was the most glorious of all the lands. ⁷ I said to them, “Each man must throw away the loathsome things he sets his eyes on. You must not defile yourselves with the filthy idols^[as] of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.”

⁸ But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. Not one of them threw away the loathsome things which they set their eyes on. They did not forsake the filthy idols of Egypt, so I resolved to pour out my wrath on them and to exhaust my anger against them in the middle of the land of Egypt. ⁹ I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned in the sight of the nations that were around them, the nations in whose sight I had made myself known by bringing the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them my statutes, and I made my ordinances known to them, ordinances by which a man will live if he observes them. ¹² I also gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, so that they could know that I, the Lord, am the one who sanctifies them.

¹³ But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances (ordinances by which a man will live if he observes them), and they profaned my Sabbaths completely. So I threatened to pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness in order to annihilate them. ¹⁴ I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out from Egypt. ¹⁵ I also swore to them with an uplifted hand in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given to them, a land flowing with milk and honey—it is the most glorious of all the lands— ¹⁶ because they rejected my ordinances and did not walk in my statutes. Instead, they profaned my Sabbaths. This happened because their hearts chase after their filthy idols. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, my eye had pity on them so that I did not destroy them, and I did not completely destroy them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ Then I said to their children in the wilderness: “Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers. Do not observe their ordinances, and do not defile yourselves with their filthy idols. ¹⁹ I, the Lord, am your God. Walk in my statutes, and observe my ordinances and practice them. ²⁰ Keep my Sabbaths holy so that they may be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I, the Lord, am your God.”

²¹ But the children too rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes. They did not observe my ordinances by practicing them, statutes by which a person will live if he observes them. They profaned my Sabbaths, so I resolved to pour out my wrath on them and to exhaust my anger on them in the wilderness. ²² Nevertheless, I held back my hand and acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out from Egypt. ²³ However, I raised my hand in an oath to them in the wilderness and swore that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the countries ²⁴ because they had not observed my ordinances. They despised my statutes. They profaned my Sabbaths, and they fixed their eyes on the filthy idols of their fathers. ²⁵ So I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.^{[at] 26} I defiled them through their sacrificial gifts—when they made all their firstborn pass through the fire—in order to devastate them, so that they would know that I am the Lord.

This is what the Lord God says. In this too your fathers blasphemed me by committing infidelity after infidelity against me. ²⁸ When I brought them to the land which I had sworn with an uplifted hand to give to them, whenever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there. There they placed their offerings that provoke me. There they offered their fragrant sacrifices. There they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ Then I said to them, “What is the high place to which you are going?” So it is called Bamah^[au] to this day.

This is what the Lord God says. Are you continuing to defile yourselves in the way your fathers did? Are you still whoring after their loathsome idolatries? ³¹ When you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you continue to defile yourselves by all your filthy idols to this day. So should I let myself be consulted by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not let myself be consulted by you.

³² What you have in mind will definitely never take place. You are saying, “Let us become like the nations, like the clans in other countries, by worshipping wood and stone.” ³³ As I live, says the Lord God, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath outpoured, I will rule over you! ³⁴ I will bring you out from the nations, and I will gather you from the countries among which you have been scattered. With a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath outpoured, ³⁵ I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. There I will enter into judgment with you face-to-face. ³⁶ As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. ³⁷ I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you under the binding terms of the covenant. ³⁸ I will purge out from among you those who revolt and rebel against me. From the land where they are staying I will bring them out, but they shall not come into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ But to you, house of Israel, this is what the Lord God says. Let each man go and worship his filthy idols, but after that, even if you will not listen to me, you will no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and with your filthy idols. ⁴⁰ For on my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord God, the whole house of Israel will worship me there—the whole nation in its homeland. There I will accept them. There I will request your offerings and your special gifts together with all your holy things. ⁴¹ I will accept you as a fragrant sacrifice when I bring you out from the nations and when I gather you from the lands among which you were scattered. Then through you, I will show that I am holy in the sight of the nations. ⁴² You will know that I am the Lord when I bring you back to the soil of Israel, to the land that I swore with an upraised hand to give to your fathers. ⁴³ There you will remember your ways and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves, and you will despise yourselves for all your evil deeds which you have done. ⁴⁴ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my name and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.

⁴⁶ Son of man, set your face toward Teman. Preach against the Southland, and prophesy against the scrubby forest in the Negev. ⁴⁷ Say this to the scrub forest in the Negev. Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says. I am about to ignite a fire among you, and among you it will devour every green tree and every dry tree. The blazing flame will not be extinguished. Every face will be scorched by it, from south to north. ⁴⁸ All flesh will see that I, the Lord, have ignited it. It will not be extinguished.

This is what the Lord says. Hear this! I am against you, and I will draw my sword out of its scabbard, and I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ⁴ Because I have resolved to cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword will come out of its scabbard against everyone from south to north. ⁵ Then all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword from its scabbard. It will not return to its sheath again. ⁶ Now you, son of man, groan as though you were doubled up in pain. Groan in front of them as though in bitter anguish. ⁷ When they ask you, “Why are you groaning?” say, “Because of the news that is coming.” Then every heart will melt, all hands will hang limp, and all knees will run with water.^[ax] It is coming, and it will take place, declares the Lord God.

So shall we rejoice in the scepter of my son?

The sword despises every such stick of wood.^[ay]

¹⁹ Now you, son of man, draw a map with two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to follow. Both of them should start from the same country. Make a signpost. Place it at the fork of the road to the city. ²⁰ Draw a road for the sword to come either to Rabbah of the Ammonites or to Judah, to fortified Jerusalem, ²¹ because the king of Babylon will stand at the fork of the road, where the two roads branch off, in order to read the omens. He will shake the arrows, consult his family gods,^[bg] and examine animal livers for omens. ²² In his right hand he will receive the omen for Jerusalem—to set up battering rams, to shout the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to throw up a ramp, to build a siege wall. ²³ But to the people of Jerusalem it will seem like a false omen. They swore solemn oaths to him, so he will remind them of their guilt, and they will be captured. ²⁴ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you brought your guilt into the open by displaying your rebellious acts, so that your sins are revealed by all your deeds—because you have brought your guilt out into the open, you will be taken in hand.

²⁵ You corpse, you wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come for the time of final punishment, ²⁶ this is what the Lord God says. Remove the turban. Take off the crown. Everything will be changed. Raise what is low. Bring down the high. ²⁷ Ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This ruin will not end^[bh] until the one comes to whom judgment belongs, the one to whom I will give it.

²⁸ Now you, son of man, prophesy and say that this is what the Lord God says concerning the Ammonites and their taunts. Say this:

Sword, O sword, unsheathed for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash like lightning! ²⁹ Though empty visions were seen about you,^[bi] though omens made deceptive forecasts about you, you will be applied to the necks of the corpses of wicked men, whose day has come for the time of final punishment.

³⁰ Return, sword, to your scabbard. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹ I will pour out my wrath on you. I will blow the fire of my fury upon you. I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men, expert destroyers. ³² You will be fuel for the fire. Your blood will flow all over the land, and you will no longer be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.

² You, son of man, will you put them on trial,^[bj] will you put the bloody city on trial? Then list for her all her abominations. ³ Say that this is what the Lord God says.

O city, you shed blood in your midst, and you bring on your time of judgment. You manufacture idols throughout the city, and so you defile yourself. ⁴ Because of the blood you have shed, you have become guilty, and because of the filthy idols you have made, you have become defiled. You have brought near your final days. You have arrived at the end of your years. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and subjected you to ridicule among all the countries. ⁵ Those nearby and those far away from you will ridicule you, who are notorious for impurity and full of turmoil.

⁶ Look at the rulers of Israel. Each one among you uses his power to shed blood. ⁷ In your midst, people have dishonored their fathers and mothers. They have exploited the alien in your midst. They have mistreated the fatherless children and the widows among you. ⁸ You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. ⁹ Slanderers are present among you to shed blood. In you there are people who eat on the mountains and commit obscene acts in your midst. ¹⁰ In your midst, a man uncovers the nakedness of his mother, who is reserved for his father, and men force themselves on a woman who is unclean during her period. ¹¹ In your midst, a man commits an abomination with a neighbor’s wife. Another man obscenely defiles a daughter-in-law. Another forces himself on his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹² In your midst, they take bribes to shed blood. You deduct a fee from the money you lend to people, and you demand that they repay more than you lent them. In this way you exploit your neighbor by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Lord God.

¹³ Therefore, I clap my hands^[bk] against the dishonest profit you have made and over the bloodshed in your midst. ¹⁴ Will your courage endure? Will your hands remain strong in the days when I deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will accomplish it. ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations. I will disperse you throughout the countries and remove your uncleanness from you. ¹⁶ After you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁸ Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside a furnace. They have become the slag from silver. ¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you have all become slag, I am about to gather you inside Jerusalem. ²⁰ As silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are placed inside a furnace to blast them with fire and to melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and my wrath. I will throw you into the furnace and melt you. ²¹ I will gather you and blast you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in the midst of it. ²² As silver is melted inside a furnace, in the same way you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my wrath upon you.

²⁴ Son of man, say to her, “You are a land not cleansed, a land that receives no rain in the day of rage.”

²⁵ Jerusalem’s princes^[bl] within her are like a roaring lion, tearing its prey. They devour people’s lives. They seize treasures and valuables. They make many women widows within her.

²⁶ Her priests do violence to my law by profaning what is holy to me, by not distinguishing between the holy and the common, and by not teaching the difference between the unclean and the clean. They disregard my Sabbaths, with the result that I am profaned among them.

²⁷ Her officials inside her are like wolves, tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make dishonest profits.

²⁸ Her prophets daub whitewash for them, seeing empty visions and forecasting false omens for them. They say, “This is what the Lord God says,” when the Lord has not spoken at all.

²⁹ The ordinary citizens practice extortion and commit robbery. They oppress the poor and the needy. They unjustly deprive the alien of his due. ³⁰ I looked for someone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy her, but I found no one. ³¹ Therefore, I will pour out my rage upon them. In the fire of my fury, I will make an end of them. I will bring down their conduct on their own heads, declares the Lord God.

² Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. ³ They acted like prostitutes in Egypt, where they were prostitutes during their youth. There they let their breasts be fondled. There they let men caress their virgin nipples.^[bm]

⁴ The older sister was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah.^[bn] They became mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. (As for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.)

⁵ Oholah acted like a prostitute instead of being faithful to me. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—bodyguards ⁶ clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, cavalrymen riding horses.^{[bo] 7} She bestowed her favors upon all the elite of the Assyrians, and along with all those for whom she lusted, she defiled herself with all their filthy idols. ⁸ She did not give up the whoring she had practiced since Egypt, when men lay down with her during her youth. They caressed her virgin nipples and poured out their lust upon her. ⁹ Therefore, I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she had lusted. ¹⁰ They exposed her nakedness. They took away her sons and her daughters and killed her with the sword. She became notorious among women because of the punishments they inflicted upon her.

¹¹ Although her sister Oholibah saw this, she behaved even more obscenely and lustfully than her sister, and her lustful whoring was even worse than her sister’s whoring. ¹² She lusted after the Assyrians—governors, commanders, bodyguards in full uniform, and cavalrymen riding horses, all of them desirable young men. ¹³ Then I saw that she too had defiled herself. Both of them had gone the same way. ¹⁴ In fact, Oholibah intensified her whoring by looking at figures of men engraved on the wall, images of Chaldeans incised in bright red, ¹⁵ with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads. All of them looked like elite officers, like Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. ¹⁶ At the mere sight of them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ The Babylonians came to her bed to make love, and they defiled her by acting like whores themselves. But after she had been defiled by them, she tore herself away from them in disgust. ¹⁸ Because she had acted like a whore so openly and exposed her nakedness, I tore myself away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister in disgust. ¹⁹ Yet she increased her whoring. She remembered the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She lusted after her paramours, whose genitals^[bp] were like the genitals of donkeys and whose ejaculation was like the ejaculation of horses. ²¹ So you revisited the lewdness of your youth when your nipples were caressed in Egypt, and your young breasts were fondled.^[bq]

²² Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says. Hear this loud and clear! I am about to rouse your lovers against you, those you had turned away from in disgust. I will bring them against you from all sides: ²³ the sons of the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, elite officers and men of high rank, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a horde of people. With shields, armor,^[br] and helmets they will take up positions against you on all sides.

I will give you up to them for judgment, and they will judge you according to their own standards. ²⁵ I will turn my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in wrath. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and your daughters, and your survivors will be devoured by fire. ²⁶ They will strip you of your clothing and take away your beautiful jewelry. ²⁷ I will put an end to your depravity and to the whoring you began in the land of Egypt. You will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. ²⁸ For this is what the Lord God says. Listen! I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, into the hands of those you turned away from in disgust. ²⁹ They will treat you hatefully. They will take away everything you have worked for and leave you completely naked. Your whorish nakedness will be exposed. Your depravity and your acts of prostitution ³⁰ have brought those things upon you because of your whoring after the nations, because you defiled yourself with their filthy idols. ³¹ Because you walked in the way of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.

³² This is what the Lord God says. You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will cause you derision and ridicule because it is so full. ³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and grief by the cup of horror and devastation, the cup of your sister Samaria. ³⁴ You will drink it and drain it. You will gnaw its broken pieces and tear your breasts. For I have spoken, declares the Lord God. ³⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must also bear the penalty of your depravity and your whoring.

³⁶ The Lord also said this to me:

Son of man, will you bring charges against Oholah and Oholibah? Make their abominations known to them.

³⁷ They have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their filthy idols. They have even offered up their children, whom they bore for me, to the idols as food.

³⁸ What is more, they have done this to me: They defiled my sanctuary on the same day they desecrated my Sabbaths. ³⁹ When they slaughtered their children for their filthy idols, they entered my sanctuary on that same day to defile it. Just look! This is what they did in my own house.