Bible in 90 Days

²¹ The Lord gave this message to me: ²² ‘Son of man, you have this proverb in the land of Israel: “A long time passes and visions never truly happen.” ²³ But you must say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will soon stop you from saying the words of that proverb.” Instead, say to them “The time will soon be here when every vision will truly happen. ²⁴ Israel's people will no longer have visions that are false. Nobody will prophesy things that deceive people. ²⁵ But I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever I say will certainly happen. It will happen very soon. Understand this, you people who refuse to obey me. I will do this while you are still alive. I will do all the things that I have said. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’

²⁶ The Lord gave this message to me: ²⁷ ‘Son of man, listen to what Israel's people are saying about you! They say, “The things that you see in your vision will not happen for many years. It will be a long time before his messages become true.” ²⁸ So say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will not wait any longer to do what I have said. I will do everything that I have told you. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’

The Lord is against false prophets

13 Then the Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, speak my message to warn Israel's prophets. They are prophesying but they teach only their own ideas. Say to them, “Listen to this message from the Lord. ³ This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to those foolish prophets. They have not seen any vision from me but they tell people their own ideas. ⁴ People of Israel, your prophets have become like wild dogs that live among heaps of stones. ⁵ They have not helped you to mend the broken walls of your city. The walls will not be strong enough to keep Israel's people safe on the day of the Lord. That is when I will allow your enemies to attack you. ⁶ The visions that these prophets see are false. They tell lies about what will happen. They say, ‘The Lord says this,’ when I have not sent them with any message. But they still think that what they say will really happen. ⁷ Yes, you prophets have seen false visions. You tell lies when you say, ‘The Lord says this.’ You say that, but I have not spoken any message to you!

⁸ So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to them: I am now your enemy because of your lies. You deceive people when you tell them what will happen. Yes, I have become your enemy. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

⁹ I will punish the prophets who see false visions and who tell lies. They will not be among the leaders of my people. They will not be on the list of people who are true Israelites. They will not even return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Almighty Lord.

¹⁰ Those prophets have deceived my people. They say that there will be peace. But there is no peace for my people. They are like men who build a wall without any mortar.^[a] They paint it white to make it look nice. ¹¹ So tell those prophets that their paint is useless. The wall will soon fall down. There will be a lot of rain, hail and strong winds that knock it down. ¹² After the wall has fallen down, people will say, ‘That white paint was useless!’

¹³ So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say: Because I am angry with you, I will send strong winds to destroy your wall. I will send a lot of rain and hail. ¹⁴ I will break down your wall with its white paint. I will knock it down to the ground and leave only its foundation. It will fall on you and it will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ I will show you that I am very angry. I will destroy the wall and the prophets who painted it white. Then I will say to you, ‘The wall is no longer there. The prophets who painted it are no longer alive.^{[b] 16} They were prophets of Israel who told lies. They promised that Jerusalem would have peace. But there was really no peace.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says.”

¹⁷ Now, son of man, you must warn the women among your people who use their own ideas to prophesy. Tell them my message to warn them. ¹⁸ Say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to those women who make pieces of cloth which they say have magic power. People tie them around their arms and their heads. Those women want to have power over people's lives. They think they can have power over other people's lives but they themselves will be safe. ¹⁹ You have made people give you a little bit of barley or bread to eat. That is how they pay you to insult my name! You tell lies to my people, and they listen to you! As a result, you cause people to die who do not deserve to die. And people who do not deserve to live continue to live.

²⁰ So this is what the Almighty Lord says to those women: I hate your pieces of cloth. You use them to catch people in traps, like you catch birds. But I will pull those cloths off your arms. Then those people that you like to catch will become free. ²¹ I will pull the cloths off your heads. That will rescue my people from your power. You will no longer be able to catch them. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ²² You have used lies to make righteous people stop being strong. But I did not want to hurt those people. You have also helped wicked people to continue to do evil things. You did not want them to change and save their lives. ²³ So you women will not see any more false visions. You will no longer pretend that you know future events. I will rescue my people from your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

14 Some of the leaders of Israel came to talk to me. They sat down in front of me. ² Then the Lord gave this message to me: ³ ‘Son of man, these men like to worship idols. They allow those idols to cause them to do wicked things. So I should not allow them to ask me anything. ⁴ You must speak to them. Say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: One of these men who like to worships idols may want to ask me something. Those men allow their idols to cause them to do wicked things. So if one of them goes to a prophet to find out something, I will give him an answer! I will give him the answer that he deserves because of his many idols! ⁵ Israel's people have turned away from me because of their idols. So I will give them an answer that will bring them back to worship me.” 

⁶ Say to Israel's people, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Turn back to me and stop worshipping idols. Stop doing the disgusting things that you have been doing.”

⁷ An Israelite or a foreigner who lives in Israel may not want to serve me. He may choose to worship idols and do wicked things. If anyone like that goes to a prophet to find out something from me, I will answer him. Yes, I myself, the Lord, will answer him! ⁸ I will be that person's enemy. I will punish him to make him an example to others. Other people will see that he is not good. I will not allow him to belong to my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ I will also punish the prophet himself if he gives a false message. I, the Lord, have deceived him to show that he is a fool. And I will punish him. I will remove him from among my people, Israel's people. ¹⁰ I will punish both the prophet and the person who asked him for a message. They will both have the same punishment. ¹¹ I will do that to bring back Israel's people to serve me. They will not continue to make themselves unclean because of all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

¹² The Lord gave this message to me: ¹³ ‘Son of man, the people of a whole nation may choose not to obey me. Then I would punish them because of their sins. I might stop the people getting any food to eat. Then there would be a famine that kills both people and animals. ¹⁴ If that happens, I would only save the righteous people who lived there. If men like Noah, Daniel and Job lived there, I would save them. But nobody else would escape. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁵ Or I might send wild animals to kill the people of that nation. Nobody would travel through that place. The wild animals would make it too dangerous to travel there. ¹⁶ I promise you this, as surely as I live: if those three righteous men lived there, they would only save themselves. They could not even save the lives of their own children. The whole land would become an empty place. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁷ Or I might bring an enemy to attack that nation. I would say, “Soldiers with swords should destroy the whole land.” I would cause them to kill both people and animals. ¹⁸ I promise you this, as surely as I live: if those three righteous men lived there, they would only save themselves. They could not even save the lives of their own children. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁹ Or I might punish that nation with a terrible disease. Because I am very angry with those people, I would cause people and animals to die in that place. ²⁰ I promise you this, as surely as I live: if Noah, Daniel and Job lived there, they would only save themselves because they are righteous people. They could not save the lives even of their own children. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

²¹ This is what the Almighty Lord says: It will be terrible for Jerusalem's people when I punish them in all these four ways. I will send enemy soldiers with swords. I will send famine. I will send wild animals. And I will send disease. That will cause both people and animals to die. ²² But some people will still be alive. Some sons and daughters will come out from the city. They will come to you here in Babylon. You will see the way that those people have lived. You will see the things that they have done. Then you will not be upset that I have punished Jerusalem in all these ways. ²³ Yes, when you see what they are like, you will no longer be upset. You will know that I have punished the people of Jerusalem as they deserved. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

Jerusalem is like a useless vine

15 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, the wood of a vine is no better than the wood of any other tree that grows in the forest.^{[c] 3} Nobody can use its wood to make anything that is useful. They cannot even make pegs to hang clothes on! ⁴ You can throw it on a fire to make the fire burn. But after the fire has finished, only a useless black piece of vine remains. ⁵ It was useless before you put it on the fire. It is even more useless after the fire has burnt it. You cannot make anything with it.

⁶ So this is what the Almighty Lord says: Among the trees of the forest, I have provided the wood of vines to burn on a fire. In the same way, I will take the people of Jerusalem to punish them. ⁷ I will become their enemy. They may have escaped from the fire once, but soon the fire will destroy them. When I punish them like that, then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸ They have not served me faithfully. So I will destroy their land. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

16 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, warn Jerusalem's people about the disgusting things that they do. ³ Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says to Jerusalem's people: You were born in the land of Canaan. That is where you came from. Your father was an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite.^{[d] 4} They did not take proper care of you on the day that you were born. They did not wash you properly. They did not cut your cord. They did not put salt or oil on your skin. They did not put cloths around you.^{[e] 5} Nobody was kind enough to do any of these things for you. Instead, they threw you out into a field. Nobody loved you on the day that you were born.

⁶ Then I saw you as I went that way. You were lying there on the ground in your blood. You were trying to move. While you lay there, I said to you, ‘Stay alive.’ ⁷ I made you grow well, like the plants in a field. You became tall and beautiful, like a bright jewel. Your breasts grew and your hair became long. But you still had no clothes to cover your bare body.

⁸ Later, I saw you again as I went that way. I saw that you had become a woman who was old enough to marry. So I covered your bare body with my coat. I promised to marry you. I made a covenant with you so that you became my wife. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

⁹ Then I washed your body with water. I washed away the blood and I put sweet oil on your body. ¹⁰ I put a beautiful dress on you. I put the best leather shoes on your feet. I dressed you with clothes made from linen and other expensive cloths. ¹¹ I put beautiful jewels on you. I put rings on your hands and a necklace around your neck. ¹² I put a gold ring in your nose. I put rings in your ears. And I put a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ I used gold and silver to make you beautiful. I gave you expensive clothes that were made of linen and other pretty cloth. I gave you good food to eat, flour, honey and olive oil. You became a very beautiful woman. You even became a queen. ¹⁴ The people of other nations heard news about your beauty. That was because of all the good things that I had given you to make you very beautiful. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁵ But you trusted your beauty to give you what you wanted. Because you were famous, you lived like a prostitute. You had sex with any man that you liked. They all enjoyed your beautiful body. ¹⁶ You used some of your clothes to give honour to idols. You made their altars beautiful. You had sex with those men there on your beautiful cloths. Those things should never happen! ¹⁷ You took your beautiful gold and silver rings and your jewels. You used them to make images of male idols for yourself. You worshipped them instead of me. ¹⁸ You put your beautiful clothes on them. You gave them my oil and my incense as an offering. ¹⁹ You also offered to those idols the food that I had given to you, the good flour, the olive oil and the honey. You wanted to please your idols with sweet smells. Yes, that is what happened! That is what the Almighty Lord says.

²⁰ You also offered your sons and your daughters as sacrifices to those idols. They were my children too! But you offered them as food to your idols. Like a prostitute, you were not faithful to me. ²¹ But you did an even worse thing. You killed my children. You offered them as sacrifices to idols! ²² You forgot what you were like when I first found you. At that time you had no clothes to cover your bare body. You lay on the ground in your own blood. You did not remember this. Instead, you chose to do disgusting things and live as a prostitute.

²³ Terrible trouble will come to you! That is what the Almighty Lord says. You did even more wicked things than these. ²⁴ In the public places of every town you built huts to worship your idols. ²⁵ You built these high places at the end of every street. There you made your beauty a disgusting thing. You offered your body to anyone who went past. Everyone knew that you were a prostitute. ²⁶ You had sex with the Egyptians, who lived near to you. They were ready to have sex with you at any time. So you lived as a prostitute more and more and you made me very angry.

²⁷ So I decided to punish you. I took from you things that belonged to you. I gave your enemies, the Philistines, power over you. Even they were ashamed because of the disgusting things that you were doing. ²⁸ You has sex with the Assyrians, too. You wanted more and more sex! You sold yourself to them, but you still wanted more ²⁹ You also had sex with the traders from Babylon. Like a prostitute, you sold yourself to more and more people. But they could still not make you happy.^[f]

³⁰ The Almighty Lord says this: Your mind no longer knows what is right. You do disgusting things, like a prostitute who is not ashamed. ³¹ You built places to worship your idols on every street. You offered yourself to people, like a prostitute. But you did not want them to pay you anything, as a prostitute would do.

³² You are like a wife who is not faithful. You want to have sex with strangers more than with your own husband! ³³ Prostitutes receive money when they have sex with someone. Instead, you give gifts to all the men who have sex with you. You pay them to come from many different places to have sex with you. ³⁴ Those men did not come and ask you to have sex with them. So you are different from other prostitutes. You paid money to those men. They did not pay money to you. So you are very different from those other women!

³⁵ So listen to Lord's message, you prostitute! ³⁶ This is what the Almighty Lord says: You wanted to have sex with many men. You offered your bare body to them, like a prostitute. You have worshipped disgusting idols. You have killed your own children as sacrifices to those idols. ³⁷ So listen to me! I will bring all those men that you had sex with. You liked some of them and you hated others. I will bring all of them to stand around you. Then I will remove all your clothes and they will all see your completely bare body. ³⁸ I will punish you as you deserve, because you are an adulteress and a murderer. I am very angry with you because you have not been faithful to me. So my punishment will destroy you. ³⁹ I will put you under the power of those men that you gave yourself to. They will destroy the places that you built for your idols. They will remove all your clothes. They will take your beautiful jewels. Then they will leave you with nothing, completely bare. ⁴⁰ They will bring a crowd of people to attack you. They will throw stones at you. They will cut you in pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ They will use fire to destroy your houses. Many women will watch while those people punish you. I will stop you from having sex as a prostitute. You will no longer pay men to have sex with you. ⁴² I will continue to punish you until I am no longer angry with you. I will not be upset or angry any more.

⁴³ The Almighty Lord says this: I am punishing you as you deserve for all the things that you have done. You have forgotten how I helped you when you were young. You have done many disgusting things and you have also lived like a prostitute.

⁴⁴ Look! Everyone says that this proverb is true about you: A daughter will do the same things that her mother does. ⁴⁵ Yes, you are a true daughter of your mother! Your mother hated her husband and her children. And you are the same as your sisters too. They also hated their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite.^{[g] 46} Your older sister was Samaria. She and her daughters lived north of you. Your younger sister was Sodom. She and her daughters lived south of you. ⁴⁷ You lived like them and you did all the same disgusting things that they did. But you quickly became even worse than them. ⁴⁸ Your sister Sodom and her daughters never did such wicked things as you and your daughters have done. That is true as surely as I live, says the Almighty Lord.^[h]

⁴⁹ Listen to me! This is the wicked thing that your sister Sodom did: She and her daughters were very proud. They had plenty of food to eat and they enjoyed life. But they did not help people who were poor and weak. ⁵⁰ They were proud and they did whatever they wanted to do. When I saw the disgusting things that they were doing, I removed them.^{[i] 51} Samaria's people did less than half as many sins as you have done. You have done many more disgusting things than they did. The many wicked things that you have done make your sisters seem righteous!

⁵² So now you must accept that you are guilty. You have done such wicked things that your sisters think that they are good people. You have done much worse things than they ever did. I must punish you even more than I punished them. So you should be ashamed and you should accept your punishment. You have made your sisters seem to be righteous.

⁵³ But one day I will cause Sodom and her daughters to enjoy life again. I will also cause Samaria and her daughters to enjoy life again. And I will also do that for you, Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ You will be sorry and ashamed that you did such wicked things. Your sisters will be happy that their punishment was less than yours. ⁵⁵ Sodom and her daughters will become as happy as they were before. Samaria and her daughters will become as happy as they were before. And you and your daughters will also become as happy as you were before.

⁵⁶ In the days when you were proud of yourselves, you did not respect your sister Sodom. ⁵⁷ But now everyone can see how wicked you are. So the other nations around you laugh at you. The people of Syria and Philistia and the nations near to them all insult you. ⁵⁸ You must accept your punishment because of the disgusting things that you have done. You have not been faithful to me. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

⁵⁹ This is what the Almighty Lord says: You have not done the things that you promised to do when I made a covenant with you. So I will punish you as you deserve. ⁶⁰ But I will remember the covenant that I made with you when you were still young. I will make that covenant strong and it will continue for ever. ⁶¹ Then you will remember the wicked things that you have done and you will be ashamed. You will welcome again your sisters, Sodom and Samaria. I will make them like daughters for you. But they will not share in the same covenant that I make with you. ⁶² I will cause the covenant that I make with you to be strong. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶³ I will forgive you for your sins so that you are no longer guilty. Then you will remember your sins. You will be too ashamed to say anything. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’

A story about two eagles and a vine

17 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, I want you to tell a story to Israel's people. It tells about them.

³ Say to them, “The Almighty Lord says this: There was a great eagle that had strong wings. Its feathers were long and beautiful, with many colours. The eagle came to Lebanon and he took hold of the top of a cedar tree. ⁴ He broke off the top branch of the tree. He took it to a country where there were many traders who buy and sell things. He planted the branch in a city there.

⁵ The eagle also took a seed from Israel's land. He planted it in a good field, like a willow tree near to plenty of water. ⁶ The seed made a plant that grew well. It became a vine that grew near to the ground. The vine's branches turned up towards the eagle. Its roots went down into the ground. The vine grew with many new branches and leaves.

⁷ There was also another great eagle. It had strong wings and many feathers. Now the vine turned its roots and its branches towards this eagle. It wanted to get more water in the ground where it was growing. ⁸ But the vine was already growing in a good field where there was plenty of water. It could grow very well in that place, with new branches. It could become a beautiful vine and make grapesthere.”

⁹ Then say to Israel's people, “The Almighty Lord says this: Do you think that the vine will continue to grow well? No, the first eagle will surely pull its roots out of the ground! He will destroy its grapes. All its leaves and branches will become dry and die. It would be easy to pull it out of the ground. It would not need a strong man or a large army to do that. ¹⁰ Yes the plant is in the ground, but will it continue to grow? When the hot wind from the east blows on it, it will become completely dry. It will die in the same good field where it had been growing.” ’

¹¹ Then the Lord gave this message to me: ¹² ‘Israel's people have turned against me. Say to them, “Surely you must understand the meaning of this story.” Then say to them, “Listen! The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. He took away Israel's king and his officers. He took them with him as his prisoners to Babylon. ¹³ He made an agreement with one man from the king of Israel's family. He made that man promise to serve Babylon's king. Then he could rule as king in Jerusalem.^[j]

The king of Babylon also took away the leaders of Jerusalem as his prisoners. ¹⁴ He wanted to make their kingdom weak. He did not want it to become strong enough to fight against him. He wanted them to obey his agreement with him. ¹⁵ But the man from the king's family did turn against the king of Babylon. He sent his officers with a message to Egypt. He asked them to send a large army with horses to save Jerusalem. But that will not help him to be safe! He did not obey his agreement with the king of Babylon, so he will not escape!

¹⁶ I promise you this, as surely as I live, says the AlmightyLord. That man that the king of Babylon made king in Jerusalem will die! He will die in Babylon because he did not obey the agreement he had made with the king of Babylon. He thought that his promise was not important. ¹⁷ The king of Egypt has a great army and many soldiers. But he still will not be able to help him to fight against Babylon's army. Babylon's soldiers will build heaps of earth against Jerusalem's walls. They will attack the walls and go into the city. They will kill many people in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Judah's king did not obey his agreement with the king of Babylon. He had promised to serve Babylon's king but instead he turned against him. He did not do what he had promised to do, so he will not escape.

¹⁹ So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I promise you this, as surely as I live. I will certainly punish Judah's king for what he has done. He did not respect the promise that he made in my name. He did not obey the agreement that he made. ²⁰ I will throw a net over him and I will catch him in my trap. I will take him to Babylon and I will judge him there. I will punish him because he was not faithful to me. ²¹ All the brave soldiers in his army will die in the battle. The soldiers who escape will run away in all directions. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken this message.^[k]

²² The Almighty Lord says this: I myself will take a new branch from the top of a tall cedar tree. I will break off one of its small fresh branches. Then I will plant it on the top of a high mountain. ²³ I will plant it on a high mountain in Israel. There it will grow and make branches and fruit. It will become a beautiful cedar tree. Many kinds of birds will live under the tree's branches. They will be safe in its shadow. ²⁴ Then all the trees of the forest will know that I am the Lord. I cause tall trees to fall down. I cause small trees to grow tall. I cause green trees to become dry. I cause dry trees to make fresh leaves.

I, the Lord, have said this and I will surely do it.” ’

18 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘You say this proverb about Israel: “The fathers have eaten bitter fruit, but it causes their children's teeth to hurt.” Why do you say that?^{[l] 3} Now I, the Lord God, tell you this: You will no longer say that proverb in Israel! ⁴ Everyone who lives belong to me. I have authority over the life of the father and over the life of the son. It is the people who do wrong things who will die because of their sins.

⁵ There may be a truly good man who does what is right and fair. ⁶ He does not go up the mountains and eat the food of idols. He does not pray to the idols that other Israelites worship. He does not have sex with another man's wife. He does not have sex with a woman when she is unclean. ⁷ He is not cruel to other people. When he lends money to someone, he gives back anything that he has taken as a guarantee. He does not take things that belong to other people. He gives food to hungry people. He gives clothes to poor people. ⁸ He does not lend money to someone and then ask to receive more money back. He refuses to do anything that is wrong. He helps people in a way that is right and fair. ⁹ He faithfully obeys my laws and my rules.

A man like that is righteous. He will continue to live. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁰ But that man may have a son who is cruel and violent. He may kill other people. He may do those bad things that his father never did. ¹¹ He may go up the mountains and eat the food of idols. He might have sex with another man's wife. ¹² He might be cruel to people who are poor and weak. He might take things that belong to other people. He might not give back things that he took as a guarantee. He prays to idols. He does disgusting things. ¹³ When he lends money to people, he wants them to pay back a lot more money to him.

A man like that will not continue to live! He will certainly die, because he himself has done all these disgusting things. He is guilty, so he himself must die as his punishment.

¹⁴ But this wicked man might have a son himself. The son sees all the sins that his father has done. He thinks about them. Then he decides that he will not live as his father has lived. ¹⁵ He does not go up the mountains to eat the food of idols. He does not pray to the idols that other Israelites worship. He does not have sex with another man's wife. ¹⁶ He is not cruel to anyone. He does not keep anything that he has taken from someone as a guarantee. He does not rob other people. But he gives food to hungry people. He gives clothes to poor people. ¹⁷ He refuses to do anything that is wrong. When he lends money to people, he does not take more back money back from them. He obeys my rules and my laws.

This man will certainly continue to live. He will not die because of his father's sins. ¹⁸ But his father will die as punishment for his own sins. He cheated people. He robbed people. He did evil things among his own people. So he will die because of his own sins.

¹⁹ You should not say, “Surely the son should receive punishment because of his father's sins.” If the son does what is good and right, and he obeys my laws and my rules, he will continue to live. ²⁰ It is the person who does wrong things who will die. A son will not receive punishment because of his father's sins. And a father will not receive punishment because of his son's sins. Righteous people will receive the good things that they deserve for the good things that they have done. But wicked people will receive the punishment that they deserve for the wicked things that they have done.

²¹ But a wicked person might turn away from the sins that he has been doing. He might decide to obey my laws and do things that are right and good. If he does that, he will certainly continue to live. He will not die as his punishment. ²² I would no longer say that he is guilty because of the sins that he has done. Instead, he will continue to live, because he has done things that are right. ²³ It does not make me happy when a wicked person dies. I want wicked people to stop doing wicked things. Then I am happy because they will continue to live. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

²⁴ A righteous person may stop doing things that are good and right. He may start to do the same disgusting things that wicked people do. Then he will not continue to live. I will not remember any of the good things that he did. Instead, I will punish him because of the sins that he has done. He has not been faithful to me, so he will die.

²⁵ But you say, “The Lord is not doing what is right!” So listen to me, Israel's people. It is you who are not doing what is right! It is not me! ²⁶ If a righteous person stops doing good things and he does bad things instead, he will die. Yes, he will die because of the wrong things that he has done. ²⁷ And if a wicked person stops doing wicked things and he does things that are right, he will continue to live. ²⁸ That wicked person realized that he was doing bad things. So he turned away from his sins. Because of that he will certainly continue to live. He will not die. ²⁹ But you, Israel's people, say, “The Lord is not doing what is right!” Do you really think that is true? No, you are the people who do not do what is right, you Israelites!

³⁰ The Almighty Lord says this to you, Israel's people: I will judge each of you as you deserve for the way that you live. So change how you live! Turn away from all the wicked things that you do. Then your sins will not finally destroy you. ³¹ Stop doing all the sins that you have been doing. Instead, think with new thoughts. Live with a new spirit inside you.^[m] You do not need to die, Israel's people! ³² It does not make me happy when anyone has to die. Turn away from your sins so that you continue to live! That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

19 ‘Sing this sad funeral song for the leaders of Israel.

² Say this:

This is a funeral song. It tells a very sad story.’

20 On the tenth day of the fifth month some of Israel's leaders came to me.^[n] That was in the seventh year that we had been prisoners in Babylon. The leaders sat in front of me. They wanted me to ask for a message from the Lord.

² Then the Lord gave this message to me: ³ ‘Son of man, speak to the leaders of Israel. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You say that you want a message from me. I promise you this, as surely as I live: I will not allow you to come to me like that.” 

⁴ Son of man, you must warn them. Are you ready to do that? Make them remember all the disgusting things that their ancestors did.

⁵ Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: On the day that I chose Israel's people to belong to me, I made a promise to all Jacob's descendants.^[o] In the land of Egypt, I showed them who I am. I promised them, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ ⁶ On that day, I promised them that I would bring them out of Egypt. I promised to take them to a land that I had chosen for them. That land would give them plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone. It was more beautiful than any other land. ⁷ I said to them, ‘You must each destroy the disgusting idols that you worship. Those are the idols of Egypt and they cause you to be unclean. Remember that I am the Lord your God.’

⁸ But your ancestors did not obey me. They refused to listen to me. None of them destroyed their disgusting idols. They continued to worship the idols of Egypt. So I decided to show them that I was very angry. I said that I would punish them there in Egypt. ⁹ But I did not want the people of other nations to insult my name. I had promised Israel's people that I would bring them out of Egypt. The nations near where the Israelites were living knew this. ¹⁰ So I brought my people out of Egypt. I led them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them my laws and my commands. Anyone who obeyed them would enjoy a good life.^{[p] 12} I also gave them Sabbath days when they would rest. It would help them to remember that they belong to me. They would know that I, the Lord, have made them my holy people.

¹³ But when Israel's people were in the wilderness, they turned against me. They did not obey my laws or my commands. (But anyone who did obey them would enjoy a good life.) They did not obey my rules for Sabbath days. So I was very angry with them. I decided to destroy them there in the wilderness. ¹⁴ But I did not want the people of other nations to insult my name. They had seen me bring Israel's people out of Egypt. ¹⁵ So I made a strong promise to my people in the wilderness. I said that I would not take them to the land that I had chosen for them. It was a very beautiful land with plenty of food and drink for everyone. ¹⁶ I refused to take them there because they had not obeyed my laws and my commands. They did not obey my rules for Sabbath says. Instead, they liked to worship their idols. ¹⁷ But I chose to be kind to them. I did not completely destroy them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not live in the bad way that your fathers did. Do not obey their rules. Do not worship their idols and make yourselves unclean. ¹⁹ Remember that I am the Lord your God. So be careful to obey my laws and my commands. ²⁰ Make Sabbath days special to show that you belong to me. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’

²¹ But their children also turned against me. They were not careful to obey my laws and my commands. (But anyone who obeyed them would enjoy a good life.) They did not obey my rules about Sabbath days. So I was very angry with them. I was ready to destroy them there in the wilderness. ²² But I did not want the people of other nations to insult my name. They had seen me bring Israel's people out of Egypt. So I could not destroy my people. ²³ There in the wilderness I made a strong promise to them. I promised to send them to many different places where they would live among other nations. ²⁴ This was because they had not obeyed my laws and my commands. They had not obeyed my rules about Sabbath days. Instead, they worshipped the same idols that their ancestors worshipped. ²⁵ So I let them obey rules that were not good. They were laws that would not help them to enjoy a good life. ²⁶ I let them make themselves unclean because of the offerings that they made. They burned their firstborn children in fire as sacrifices. I did that to make them afraid. I wanted them to know that I am the Lord.”

²⁷ So, son of man, you must speak to Israel's people. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your ancestors insulted me when they did not serve me faithfully. ²⁸ I took them to the land which I had promised to give to them. But when they were there, they continued to offer sacrifices to idols. They did this on every high hill or under every green tree that they saw! They burned sweet incense and they poured out wine as offerings in all those places. That made me very angry. ²⁹ I asked them, ‘Why do you go to these high places?’ ” (That is why people still call them “high places”.)

³⁰ So say this to Israel's people. “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Will you continue to make yourselves unclean in the way that your ancestors did? You are not faithful to me. Instead, you worship disgusting idols. ³¹ You make yourselves unclean when you offer sacrifices to your idols. You burn your sons in fire as offerings. You still continue to do that! So should I allow you to come to me for help? I promise you this, as surely as I live: I will not allow you to come to me! That is what the Almighty Lord says.

³² You think, ‘We want to live like the people of other nations and clans. They worship idols that are made from wood and stone.’ But these thoughts will never happen. ³³ The Almighty Lord says, I promise you this, as surely as I live: I will use my great power and authority to rule you as your King. You will know how angry I am! ³⁴ I will bring you back from the nations where I sent you to live. I will bring you back from all those different places. I will use my great power to do this and you will know that I am very angry with you. ³⁵ I will bring you to a wilderness with other nations all around it. I will meet with you there and I will show that you are guilty. ³⁶ I judged your fathers in the wilderness when they came out of Egypt. I will punish you in the same way. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

³⁷ I will count you one by one, as a shepherd counts his sheep. I will cause you to obey the rules of my covenant with you. ³⁸ I will remove from among you those who refuse to obey me. I will bring them out from the country where they have been living. But they will not go into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ Israel's people, this is what the Almighty Lord says to you: Now, every one of you, go to serve your idols! But after that, you will listen to me. You will no longer insult my holy name. You will no longer give gifts to your idols. ⁴⁰ All of Israel's people will serve me on my holy mountain, Israel's great mountain. There I will accept them as my people. That is what the Almighty Lord says. I will receive your offerings, your gifts and all your holy sacrifices. ⁴¹ I will bring you home from the nations and all the places where you have been living. Then I will welcome you, like sweet incense that pleases me. When I am among you, I will show all the other nations that I am holy. ⁴² I will bring you into the land of Israel. That is the land that I promised to give to your ancestors. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁴³ You will remember all the wrong things that you did which made you unclean. You will be ashamed of yourselves because of all the evil things that you have done. ⁴⁴ At that time, I will help you. I will not punish you as you deserve for your wicked and evil acts. Instead, I will do things that bring honour to my name. Then, Israel's people, you will know that I am the Lord. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’

A message about the south of Israel

⁴⁵ The Lord gave this message to me: ⁴⁶ ‘Son of man, look towards the south. Speak my message to the people there. Warn the forests in the dry land of the south. ⁴⁷ Say to those forests, “Listen to this message from the Lord. This is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen! I will start a fire to burn you. The fire will destroy all the green trees and all the dry trees. Nobody will be able to stop that fire. From the dry land in the south, all the way to the north, the fire will burn everything. ⁴⁸ Everyone will see that I, the Lord, started the fire. Nobody will be able to stop it burning.” ’^[q]

⁴⁹ Then I said, ‘Almighty Lord, “The people are already saying that my stories make them confused.” ’

The Lord punishes Israel^[r]

21 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, look towards Jerusalem. Speak about the things in my holy place that are wrong. Speak my message to warn the people of Israel. ³ Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: I am now your enemy. I will take my sword in my hand. I will use it to kill both righteous people and wicked people. ⁴ I will remove righteous people and wicked people from among you. So I will use my sword to attack everyone in the land, from the north to the south. ⁵ Then all the people will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who is punishing them with my sword. And I will not put it back in its place.” 

⁶ So now, son of man, cry aloud. Let the people see how sad and upset you are. ⁷ They will ask you, “Why are you so sad?” Then you will say, “I am sad because of the news that will soon come. Every one of you will be very afraid. Your hands will be weak and your knees will shake.” You can be sure that this will happen very soon. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

⁸ The Lord gave this message to me: ⁹ ‘Son of man, speak my message to the people. Say, “This is what the Lord says:

That is what the Almighty Lord says.

I, the Lord, have spoken.’

¹⁸ The Lord gave this message to me: ¹⁹ ‘Son of man, make a mark on two roads for the king of Babylon to follow with his army. Both these roads must start from the same country. Put a sign at the place where the two roads go in separate directions. ²⁰ Show the two places that the roads go to. One road goes to Rabbah, the big city of the Ammonites. The other road goes to Judah and its strong city, Jerusalem. ²¹ The king of Babylon will arrive at the place where the road goes in separate directions. He will try to decide which way to go. He will use magic to ask his gods to tell him. He will shake arrows in his hands. He will pray to his idols. He will look at the livers of animals.^{[s] 22} The arrow in his right hand shows him that he should go to Jerusalem. He will command his army to go and kill the people there. His soldiers will use heavy pieces of wood to knock down the walls and gates of the city. They will shout as they attack the city. They will build heaps of earth against the city's walls. ²³ The people in Jerusalem had promised to serve the king of Babylon. So they think that he will not attack them. But he will tell them about the wrong things that they have done. Because of that he will take them as his prisoners.^[t]

²⁴ So this is what the Almighty Lord says: You have shown everyone that you are guilty of many sins. Everything that you do shows your sins very clearly. Because you are guilty, your enemies will take you as their prisoners.

²⁵ I say this to you, wicked king of Israel. The time for your final punishment has now arrived. ²⁶ This is what the Almighty Lord says:

²⁸ You, son of man, must speak my message about the Ammonites. They have insulted Israel. This is what the Almighty Lord says:

I, the Lord, have said this.’

The Lord will punish Jerusalem's people

22 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, you must warn the people in this city about their punishment. The people are murderers. They have done many disgusting things. Are you ready to tell them that? ³ Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Because you murder people, you have caused your punishment to come. You make idols for yourselves, and that has made you unclean. ⁴ Because you have murdered people and you have made disgusting idols, you are now guilty. This has brought the time of your punishment very near. Your years of power have come to an end. I will cause the people of other nations to laugh at you. They will all insult you. ⁵ The people of countries that are near to you will laugh at you. Those who live far away will also laugh at you. You will no longer receive any honour because your city is full of trouble.

⁶ Each ruler of Israel that lives in you, Jerusalem, has been a murderer. Each one has used his power to kill people. ⁷ The people in the city do not respect their parents. They have been cruel to the foreigners who live among you. They have cheated widows and children who have no family. ⁸ You have not respected my holy things. You have not made my Sabbath days special. ⁹ There are men among you who tell lies so that they can kill other people. There are people who eat the food of idols on the mountains. They do disgusting things among you. ¹⁰ Some men have sex with their father's wife. Some men have sex with a woman at the time when she bleeds each month and she is unclean. ¹¹ One man has sex with another man's wife. Another man has sex with his son's wife. Another man among you has sex with the daughter of his own father. These are disgusting things to do. ¹² People among you accept bribes to kill somebody. When some of you lend money to people, you make them pay more money back to you. Some of you use your power to make people give you money. You people of Jerusalem have forgotten me. That is what the Lord says.

¹³ Listen to me! I will show you that I am angry with you. You have cheated people and taken their money. You have murdered people who live among you. ¹⁴ When I have punished you, you will no longer feel brave or strong. I, the Lord, have said what I will do. And I will do it. ¹⁵ I will send you away to live among many other nations. I will stop you doing evil things. ¹⁶ All the other nations will see that you are useless. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

¹⁷ The Lord gave this message to me: ¹⁸ ‘Son of man, Israel's people have become like dirt to me. They are like useless bits of metal that remain after silver is made pure in a hot oven. ¹⁹ So this is what the Lord God says: All of you have become like useless dirt. So listen to me! I will bring you all together into the middle of Jerusalem. ²⁰ It will be like a hot oven that I put you in. It will be like an oven where men cause different metals to melt to make them pure. Because I am very angry with you, I will bring you into the city to punish you there. ²¹ I will put you in my oven, Jerusalem. And I will burn you with my hot anger. ²² My great anger will cause you to melt, like men cause silver to melt in a hot oven. Then you will know that I am the Lord. And you will know that I have punished you with my anger.’

²³ The Lord gave this message to me: ²⁴ ‘Son of man, say to the land of Israel, “I am angry with you. Because of that, you will receive no rain to make you clean.”

²⁵ The rulers in the land hurt people, like strong lions that tear animals in pieces. They use their power to destroy people. They take for themselves riches and valuable things that belong to other people. They have killed many men so that there are now many widows in the land.

²⁶ The priests in the land do not obey my law. They do not respect my holy things. They do not think that holy things are different from ordinary things. They say that unclean things and clean things are the same.^[v] They refuse to make my Sabbath days special. Because of this, people do not give me any honour.

²⁷ The officers in the land are like wolves that catch other animals and tear them into pieces. They use their power to murder people so that they can take their money for themselves.

²⁸ The prophets in the land give false messages. They say that bad things are good. They see false visions. They tell lies about what will happen. They say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says.” But I, the Lord, have not spoken to them.

²⁹ The people in the land make people give them money. They rob people. They are cruel to poor people and to weak people. They cheat foreign people who live among them. They do not allow them to have justice.

³⁰ I looked among the people for a man who would make the land safe. He would make it a good, strong place again, with nothing bad in it. Then I would not destroy it. But I could not find anyone like that. ³¹ So I will certainly destroy them. I will punish them with my great anger, like a fire that burns them completely. I will now punish them as they deserve for their sins. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

A story about two bad sisters

23 The Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, there were two sisters who had the same mother. ³ They were prostitutes in Egypt, from the time that they were both young women. Men touched their breasts and made love to them. ⁴ The older sister was called Oholah. The younger one was called Oholibah. In this story, Oholah is Samaria. Oholibah is Jerusalem. They became my wives, and later they gave birth to sons and daughters for me.^[w]

⁵ Oholah was my wife but she continued to live as a prostitute. She wanted men from Assyria to be her lovers. ⁶ Her lovers were soldiers who wore blue clothes. Some of them were army officers and leaders. They were all strong young men. Some of them rode on horses. ⁷ Oholah gave herself to them as a prostitute. She had sex with all the important young men of Assyria. She did these disgusting things with anyone that she wanted. She worshipped their idols and she made herself unclean. ⁸ She had lived as a prostitute in Egypt when she was young. Men had sex with her. They touched her breasts and they enjoyed her body for themselves. She continued to do that with the Assyrian men.

⁹ She wanted the Assyrian men to be her lovers. Because of that I put her under their power. ¹⁰ They removed her clothes to make her ashamed. They took away her sons and daughters. They attacked her and they killed her. Because of her punishment, women everywhere talked about her.

¹¹ Ohalah's sister, Oholibah, saw this, but she did even worse things than her sister. She wanted other lovers even more than her sister did. ¹² She, too, wanted Assyrian men to be her lovers. They were army officers and leaders. They were brave soldiers in beautiful clothes. Some of them rode on horses. They were all strong young men. ¹³ I saw that she was living in the same way that her sister had done. Like her sister, she made herself unclean.

¹⁴ But Oholibah did even worse things, as a prostitute does. She saw pictures of men on the walls. They were bright red pictures that people had made of Babylonian men. ¹⁵ The men wore belts around their bodies. They wore large cloths around their heads. They looked like Babylonian army officers who came from Chaldea. ¹⁶ When Oholibah saw these pictures, she wanted the men to be her lovers. She sent messages to them in Babylonia. ¹⁷ The Babylonian soldiers came to have sex with her. They did many disgusting things with her so that she was unclean. After they had done this to her, she became upset. She turned away from them.

¹⁸ She was not ashamed to have sex with many other men. Everyone knew that she lived as a prostitute. So I was very upset. I turned away from her, as I had turned away from her sister. ¹⁹ But she wanted more and more men to be her lovers. She remembered how she had lived as a prostitute in Egypt when she was a young woman. ²⁰ She wanted those strong men to be her lovers. They had sex in a strong way, like donkeys or horses. ²¹ Yes, Oholibah, you thought about the disgusting ways that you had sex when you were young. You wanted men to touch your breasts and make love to you as the Egyptian men had done.

²² So this is what the Almighty Lord says to you, Oholibah: “Listen to me! I will cause your lovers to become angry with you. The lovers that you turned away from will come to attack you. I will bring them from every direction to attack you. ²³ The soldiers from Babylon and from Chaldea will come. Men from Pekod, Shoa and Koa will come. All the Assyrian soldiers will come with them. They will be beautiful young men, army officers, leaders and important men. They will all ride on horses. ²⁴ They will attack you with their weapons, their chariots and with a large army of soldiers. They will come together all around you, on every side. They will have different kinds of shields. They will wear helmets on their heads. I will give them authority to judge you. They will punish you in the way that they choose.

²⁵ You have not been faithful to me, so I am very angry with you. I will cause these men to punish you in cruel ways. They will cut off your noses and your ears. They will use their swords to kill any men who remain. They will take away your sons and daughters. Fire will destroy any of your people who remain. ²⁶ They will pull off your clothes. They will take away your beautiful jewels. ²⁷ That is how I will stop you living in a disgusting way. You will no longer live as a prostitute, in the way that you lived in Egypt. You will not want to live in that way again. You will not think about how you lived in Egypt any more.”

²⁸ This is what the Almighty Lord says: “Listen! I will put you under the power of people that you hate. Those were the people that you turned away from because you were upset. ²⁹ They will be cruel to you. They will take away everything that you worked hard to get. When they leave you, you will have no clothes to wear. You will be ashamed. Everyone will see that you have lived as a prostitute and you have done disgusting things. ³⁰ I am punishing you in this way because you were not faithful to me. You wanted other nations to be your lovers. You became unclean because you worshipped their idols. ³¹ You have lived in the same bad way that your sister lived. So I will punish you as I punished her.”

³² This is what the Lord God says:

I, the Almighty Lord, have said this.”

³⁵ This is what the Almighty Lord says: “You have forgotten me. You have not been faithful to me. You have lived as a prostitute and you have done disgusting things. So now you must receive the punishment that you deserve.” ’

³⁶ The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, you must judge Oholah and Oholibah. Warn them that they have done disgusting things. ³⁷ They have not been faithful to me. They have murdered people. They have worshipped idols. They have not been faithful to me as their husband. They have even offered their children as food to their idols. Those were my children that they burned with fire.

³⁸ Also, they have done these things against me: They made my holy place unclean. At the same time, they did not obey my rules for Sabbath days. ³⁹ They offered their sons as sacrifices to their idols. Then, on the same day, they came into my temple! That is how they made my own special house unclean.