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

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

The vine’s wood

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

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

Jerusalem’s unfaithfulness

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

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

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

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

³⁶ The Lord God proclaims: You were in a constant state of arousal^[a] and exposed yourself when you acted like a prostitute with your lovers and with the idols to which you gave your children’s blood. ³⁷ Therefore, I will now gather all of your lovers whom you pleased, the ones you loved and the ones you rejected. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose you to them. They will see it all. ³⁸ I will convict you of adultery and murder, and I will hand you over in bloody fury and zeal. ³⁹ I will hand you over to them, and they will tear down your pavilion and destroy your platforms. They will strip you of your garments, take your beautiful jewels, and they will leave you completely naked. ⁴⁰ They will bring an army against you, pelt you with stones, and slaughter you with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn down your houses and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. I will bring an end to your prostitution; indeed, you will never again give payment.

Able to save completely

¹⁸ On the one hand, an earlier command is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹ (because the Law made nothing perfect). On the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. ²⁰ And this was not done without a solemn pledge! The others have become priests without a solemn pledge, ²¹ but this priest was affirmed with a solemn pledge by the one who said,

²² As a result, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. ²³ The others who became priests are numerous because death prevented them from continuing to serve. ²⁴ In contrast, he holds the office of priest permanently because he continues to serve forever. ²⁵ This is why he can completely save those who are approaching God through him, because he always lives to speak with God for them.

²⁶ It’s appropriate for us to have this kind of high priest: holy, innocent, incorrupt, separate from sinners, and raised high above the heavens. ²⁷ He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests, first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. He did this once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ The Law appoints people who are prone to weakness as high priests, but the content of the solemn pledge, which came after the Law, appointed a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Psalm 106