Ezekiel 4-23

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

II. Before the Siege of Jerusalem

Chapter 4

Acts Symbolic of Siege and Exile. ^1 [a]You, son of man, take a clay tablet; place it in front of you, and draw on it a city, Jerusalem. ² Lay siege to it: build up siege works, raise a ramp against it, pitch camps and set up battering rams all around it. ³ Then take an iron pan and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it and put it under siege. So you must lay siege to it as a sign for the house of Israel.^{(A) 4} Then lie down on your left side, while I place the guilt of the house of Israel upon you. As many days as you lie like this, you shall bear their guilt. ⁵ I allot you three hundred and ninety days^[b] during which you must bear the guilt of the house of Israel, the same number of years they sinned. ⁶ When you have completed this, you shall lie down a second time, on your right side to bear the guilt of the house of Judah forty days; I allot you one day for each year.^{(B) 7} Turning your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with bared arm^[c] you shall prophesy against it. ⁸ See, I bind you with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.^(C)

^9 [d]Then take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them into a single pot and make them into bread. Eat it for as many days as you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days. ¹⁰ The food you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; each day you shall eat it. ¹¹ And the water you drink shall be the sixth of a hin^[e] by measure; each day you shall drink it. ¹² And the barley cake you eat you must bake on human excrement in the sight of all. ¹³ The Lord said: Thus the Israelites shall eat their food, unclean, among the nations where I drive them.^{(D) 14} “Oh no, Lord God,” I protested. “Never have I defiled myself nor have I eaten carrion flesh or flesh torn by wild beasts, nor from my youth till now has any unclean meat entered my mouth.”^{(E) 15} Very well, he replied, I will let you use cow manure in place of human dung. You can bake your bread on that. ¹⁶ Then he said to me: Son of man, I am about to break the staff of bread^[f] in Jerusalem so they shall eat bread which they have weighed out anxiously and drink water which they have measured out fearfully.^{(F) 17} Because they lack bread and water they shall be devastated; each and every one will waste away because of their guilt.^(G)

Chapter 5

¹ Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor, to shave your head and your beard. Then take a balance scale for weighing and divide the hair.^{(H) 2} Set a third on fire within the city,^[g] when the days of your siege are completed; place another third around the city and strike it with the sword; the final third scatter to the wind and then unsheathe the sword after it.^{(I) 3} But take a few of the hairs and tie them in the hem of your garment. ⁴ Take some of these and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire. Because of this, fire will flash out against the whole house of Israel.

⁵ Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem! I placed it in the midst of the nations, surrounded by foreign lands. ⁶ But it rebelled against my ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against my statutes more than the foreign lands around it; they rejected my ordinances and did not walk in my statutes.^{(J) 7} Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have caused more uproar than the nations surrounding you, not living by my statutes nor carrying out my judgments, nor even living by the ordinances of the surrounding nations; ⁸ therefore, thus says the Lord God: See, I am coming against you!^[h] I will carry out judgments among you while the nations look on.^{(K) 9} Because of all your abominations I will do to you what I have never done before, the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore, parents will eat their children in your midst, and children will eat their parents.^[i] I will inflict punishments upon you and scatter all who remain to the winds.^(L)

¹¹ Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your atrocities and all your abominations, I will surely withdraw and not look upon you with pity nor spare you.^{(M) 12} A third of your people shall die of disease or starve to death within you; another third shall fall by the sword all around you; a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue them with the sword.^(N)

¹³ Thus my anger will spend itself; I will vent my wrath against them until I am satisfied. Then they will know that I the Lord spoke in my passion when I spend my wrath upon them.^{(O) 14} I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of every passerby.^{(P) 15} And you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in angry wrath, with furious chastisements. I, the Lord, have spoken! ¹⁶ When I loose against you the deadly arrows of starvation that I am sending to destroy you, I will increase starvation and will break your staff of bread.^{(Q) 17} I will send against you starvation and wild beasts who will leave you childless, while disease and bloodshed sweep through you. I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.^(R)

Chapter 6

Against the Mountains of Israel. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them:^{(S) 3} You shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys:^(T) Pay attention! I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.^{[j] 4} Your altars shall be laid waste, your incense stands smashed, and I will throw your slain down in front of your idols. ⁵ Yes, I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols, and scatter your bones around your altars.^{[k](U) 6} Wherever you live, cities shall be ruined and high places laid waste, in order that your altars be laid waste and devastated, your idols broken and smashed, your incense altars hacked to pieces, and whatever you have made wiped out.^{(V) 7} The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.^{[l](W) 8} But I will spare some of you from the sword to live as refugees among the nations when you are scattered to foreign lands. ⁹ Then your refugees will remember me among the nations to which they have been exiled, after I have broken their lusting hearts that turned away from me and their eyes that lusted after idols. They will loathe themselves for all the evil they have done, for all their abominations.^{(X) 10} Then they shall know that I the Lord did not threaten in vain to inflict this evil on them.

¹¹ Thus says the Lord God: Clap your hands, stamp your feet,^[m] and cry “Alas!” for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! They shall fall by the sword, starvation, and disease.^{(Y) 12} Those far off shall die of disease, those nearby shall fall by the sword, and those who survive and are spared shall perish by starvation; thus will I spend my fury upon them. ¹³ They shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols, all around their altars, on every high hill and mountaintop, beneath every green tree and leafy oak^[n]—any place they offer sweet-smelling oblations to all their idols.^{(Z) 14} I will stretch out my hand against them; I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Riblah,^[o] wherever they live. Thus they shall know that I am the Lord.^(AA)

Chapter 7

The End Has Come. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, now say: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end comes upon the four corners of the land!^{(AB) 3} Now the end is upon you; I will unleash my anger against you, judge you according to your ways, and hold against you all your abominations. ⁴ My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will hold your conduct against you, since your abominations remain within you; then shall you know that I am the Lord.^(AC)

⁵ Thus says the Lord God: Evil upon evil! See it coming! ⁶ An end is coming, the end is coming; it is ripe for you! See it coming! ⁷ The crisis has come for you who dwell in the land! The time has come, near is the day: panic, no rejoicing on the mountains.^{(AD) 8} Soon now I will pour out my fury upon you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and hold against you all your abominations.^{(AE) 9} My eye will not spare, nor will I take pity; I will hold your conduct against you since your abominations remain within you, then you shall know that it is I, the Lord, who strikes.^(AF)

¹⁰ The day is here! Look! it is coming! The crisis has come! Lawlessness is blooming, insolence budding; ¹¹ the violent have risen up to wield a scepter of wickedness. But none of them shall remain; none of their crowd, none of their wealth, for none of them are innocent. ^12 [p]The time has come, the day dawns. The buyer must not rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is coming upon all the throng.^{(AG) 13} Assuredly, the seller shall not regain what was sold, as long as they all live; for the vision is for the whole crowd: it shall not be revoked! Yes, because of their guilt, they shall not hold on to life. ¹⁴ They will sound the trumpet and get everything ready, but no one will go out to battle, for my wrath weighs upon all the crowd.

¹⁵ The sword is outside; disease and hunger are within. Whoever is in the fields will die by the sword; whoever is in the city disease and hunger will devour.^{(AH) 16} If their survivors flee, they will die on the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley on account of their guilt. ¹⁷ All their hands will hang limp, and all their knees^[q] turn to water.^{(AI) 18 (AJ)}They put on sackcloth, horror clothes them; shame is on all their faces, all their heads are shaved bald.^{[r] 19} They fling their silver into the streets, and their gold is considered unclean.^(AK) Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their bellies, for it has been the occasion of their sin. ^20 [s]In their beautiful ornaments they took pride; out of them they made their abominable images, their detestable things. For this reason I will make them unclean.^{(AL) 21} I will hand them over as spoils to foreigners, as plunder to the wicked of the earth, so that they may defile them. ²² I will turn my face away from them. My treasure will be defiled; the violent will enter and defile it.^{(AM) 23} They will wreak slaughter, for the land is filled with bloodshed and the city with violence.^{(AN) 24} I will bring in the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to their proud strength,^[t] and their sanctuaries will be defiled.^{(AO) 25} When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there is none.^{(AP) 26} Disaster after disaster, rumor upon rumor. They keep seeking a vision from the prophet; instruction from the priest is missing, and counsel from the elders.^{(AQ) 27} The king mourns, the prince is terror-stricken, the hands of the common people tremble. I will deal with them according to their ways, and according to their judgments I will judge them. They shall know that I am the Lord.

Chapter 8

¹ In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month,^[u] as I was sitting in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.^{(AR) 2} I looked up and there was a figure that looked like a man.^[v] Downward from what looked like his waist, there was fire; from his waist upward, like the brilliance of polished bronze.^(AS)

Vision of Abominations in the Temple. ³ He stretched out the form of a hand and seized me by the hair of my head. The spirit lifted me up^[w] between earth and heaven and brought me in divine vision to Jerusalem^(AT) to the entrance of the inner gate facing north where the statue of jealousy that provokes jealousy stood. ⁴ There I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.^{(AU) 5} He said to me: Son of man, lift your eyes to the north! I looked to the north and there in the entry north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy.^{(AV) 6} He asked, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great abominations that the house of Israel is practicing here, so that I must depart from my sanctuary? You shall see even greater abominations!^(AW)

⁷ Then he brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and there I saw a hole in the wall. ⁸ Son of man, he ordered, dig through the wall. I dug through the wall—there was a doorway. ⁹ Go in, he said to me, and see the evil abominations they are doing here. ¹⁰ I went in and looked—figures of all kinds of creeping things and loathsome beasts,^[x] all the idols of the house of Israel,^(AX) pictured around the wall. ¹¹ Before them stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel. Among them stood Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, each with censer in hand; a cloud of incense drifted upward.^{(AY) 12} Then he said to me: Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his idol chamber? They think: “The Lord cannot see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.”^{(AZ) 13} He said: You will see them practicing even greater abominations.

¹⁴ Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord. There women sat and wept for Tammuz.^{[y](BA) 15} He said to me: Do you see this, son of man? You will see other abominations, greater than these!

¹⁶ Then he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. There at the door of the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the Lord’s temple and their faces toward the east; they were bowing eastward^[z] to the sun.^{(BB) 17} He said: Do you see, son of man? Are the abominable things the house of Judah has done here so slight that they should also fill the land with violence, provoking me again and again? Now they are putting the branch to my nose!^{[aa] 18} Therefore I in turn will act furiously: my eye will not spare, nor will I take pity. Even if they cry out in a loud voice for me to hear, I shall not listen to them.

Chapter 9

Slaughter of the Idolaters. ¹ Then he cried aloud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city! ² And there were six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with a weapon of destruction in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a scribe’s case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.^{(BC) 3} Then the glory of the God of Israel moved off the cherub and went up to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen with the scribe’s case at his waist,^{(BD) 4 (BE)}and the Lord said to him:^[ab] Pass through the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark an X on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the abominations practiced within it. ⁵ To the others he said in my hearing: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not let your eyes spare; do not take pity. ⁶ Old and young, male and female, women and children—wipe them out! But do not touch anyone marked with the X. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.^{(BF) 7} Defile the temple, he said to them, fill its courts with the slain. Then go out and strike in the city.

⁸ As they were striking, I was left alone. I fell on my face, crying out, “Alas, Lord God! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?” ⁹ He answered me: The guilt of the house of Israel and the house of Judah is too great to measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the Lord has abandoned the land, that he does not see them. ¹⁰ My eye, however, will not spare, nor shall I take pity, but I will bring their conduct down upon their heads.

¹¹ Just then the man dressed in linen with the scribe’s case at his waist made his report: “I have done as you commanded!”

Chapter 10

¹ Then I looked and there above the firmament over the heads of the cherubim was something like a sapphire, something that looked like a throne.^{(BG) 2 [ac]}And he said to the man dressed in linen: Go within the wheelwork under the cherubim; fill both your hands with burning coals from the place among the cherubim, then scatter them over the city. As I watched, he entered.^{(BH) 3} Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in and a cloud filled the inner court. ⁴ The glory of the Lord had moved off the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; the temple was filled with the cloud, the whole court brilliant with the glory of the Lord. ⁵ The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty speaking.^{(BI) 6} He commanded the man dressed in linen: Take fire from within the wheelwork among the cherubim. The man entered and stood by one of the wheels. ⁷ Thereupon a cherub stretched out a hand from among the cherubim toward the fire in the midst of the cherubim, took some, and put it in the hands of the one dressed in linen. He took it and came out. ⁸ Something like a human hand was visible under the wings of the cherubim. ⁹ I also saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub, and the wheels appeared to have the sparkle of yellow topaz. ¹⁰ And the appearance of the four all seemed alike, as though one wheel were inside the other. ¹¹ When they moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering as they moved; in whatever direction the first cherub faced, the others followed without veering as they went. ¹² Their entire bodies—backs, hands, and wings—and wheels were covered with eyes all around like the four wheels.^{(BJ) 13} I heard the wheels called “wheelwork.” ¹⁴ Each living creature had four faces: the first a cherub, the second a human being, the third a lion, the fourth an eagle.^{(BK) 15 [ad]}When the cherubim rose up, they were indeed the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar.^{(BL) 16} When the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them; when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not leave their sides. ¹⁷ When they stood still, the wheels stood still; when they rose up, the wheels rose up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. ¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord left the threshold of the temple and took its place upon the cherubim. ¹⁹ The cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the earth before my eyes as they departed with the wheels beside them. They stopped at the entrance of the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them.^{(BM) 20 [ae]}These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar. Now I knew they were cherubim.^{(BN) 21} Each of them had four faces and four wings, and something like human hands under their wings. ²² Their faces looked just like the faces I had seen by the river Chebar; and each one went straight ahead.

Chapter 11

Death for the Remnant in Jerusalem. ¹ The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord facing east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men; among them I saw the public officials Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah. ² The Lord said to me: Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city. ³ They are saying, “No need to build houses! The city is the pot, and we are the meat.”^{[af](BO) 4} Therefore prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy! ⁵ Then the spirit of the Lord fell upon me and told me to say: Thus says the Lord: This is how you talk, house of Israel. I know the things that come into your mind! ⁶ You have slain many in this city, filled its streets with the slain. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: The slain whom you piled up in it, that is the meat, the pot is the city. But you I will bring out of it.^{(BP) 8} You fear the sword—that sword I will bring upon you—oracle of the Lord God.^{(BQ) 9} I will bring you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ By the sword you shall fall. At the borders of Israel I will judge you so that you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ The city shall not be a pot for you, nor shall you be meat within it. At the borders of Israel I will judge you,^{(BR) 12} so you shall know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you did not follow, whose ordinances you did not keep. Instead, you acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.

¹³ While I was prophesying, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, dropped dead. I fell down on my face and cried out in a loud voice: “Alas, Lord God! You are finishing off what remains of Israel!”^[ag](BS)

Restoration for the Exiles. ¹⁴ The word of the Lord came to me: ^15 [ah]Son of man, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are saying about all your relatives, the other exiles, and all the house of Israel, “They are far away from the Lord. The land is given to us as a possession.”^{(BT) 16} Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I have indeed sent them far away among the nations, scattered them over the lands, and have been but little sanctuary for them in the lands to which they have gone. ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the nations and collect you from the lands through which you were scattered, so I can give you the land of Israel.^{(BU) 18} They will enter it and remove all its atrocities and abominations. ^19 (BV)And I will give them another heart and a new spirit I will put within them. From their bodies I will remove the hearts of stone, and give them hearts of flesh, ²⁰ so that they walk according to my statutes, taking care to keep my ordinances. Thus they will be my people, and I will be their God.^{(BW) 21} But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their atrocities and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their heads—oracle of the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted their wings and the wheels alongside them, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.^{(BX) 23 [ai]}The glory of the Lord rose up from the middle of the city and came to rest on the mountain east of the city.^{(BY) 24} In a vision, the spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Chaldea, by the spirit of God. The vision I had seen left me,^{(BZ) 25} and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.^(CA)

Chapter 12

Acts Symbolic of the Exile. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see, but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear. They are such a rebellious house!^{(CB) 3} Now, son of man, during the day while they watch, pack a bag for exile,^[aj] and again while they watch, go into exile from your place to another place; perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house. ⁴ During the day, while they watch, bring out your bag, an exile’s bag. In the evening, again while they watch, go out as if into exile.^{(CC) 5} While they watch, dig a hole through the wall^[ak] and go out through it. ⁶ While they watch, shoulder your load and go out in darkness. Cover your face so you cannot see the land, for I am making you a sign for the house of Israel!^(CD)

⁷ I did just as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my bag, an exile’s bag. In the evening while they watched, I dug a hole through the wall with my hands and set out in darkness, shouldering my load.

⁸ In the morning, the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that house of rebels, say, “What are you doing?”^{(CE) 10} Tell them: Thus says the Lord God: This load is the prince in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel within it. ¹¹ Say, I am a sign for you: just as I have done, so it shall be done to them; into exile, as captives they shall go.^{(CF) 12} The prince among them shall shoulder his load in darkness and go out through the hole they dug in the wall to bring him out. His face shall be covered so that he cannot even see the ground.^{(CG) 13 (CH)}I will spread my net over him and he shall be caught in my snare. I will bring him into Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans, though he shall not see it,^[al] and there he shall die. ¹⁴ All his retinue, his aides and all his troops, I will scatter to the winds and pursue them with the sword.^{(CI) 15} Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.^{(CJ) 16} But I will let a few of them escape the sword, starvation, and plague, so that they may recount all their abominations among the nations to which they go. Thus they may know that I am the Lord.^[am]

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ Son of man, eat your bread trembling and drink your water shaking with fear.^{(CK) 19} And say to the people of the land:^[an] Thus says the Lord God about the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: they shall eat their bread in fear and drink their water in horror, because the land will be emptied of what fills it—the lawlessness of all its inhabitants. ²⁰ Inhabited cities shall be in ruins, the land a desolate place. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Ridiculed. ²¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ²² Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: “The days drag on, and every vision fails”?^{[ao](CL) 23} Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to that proverb; they shall never use it again in Israel. Say to them instead: “The days are at hand and every vision fulfilled.”^{(CM) 24} No longer shall there be any false visions or deceitful divinations within the house of Israel,^{(CN) 25} for whatever word I speak shall happen without delay. In your days, rebellious house, whatever I speak I will bring about—oracle of the Lord God.^(CO)

²⁶ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷ Son of man, listen! The house of Israel is saying, “The vision he sees is a long time off; he prophesies for distant times!”^{(CP) 28} Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord God: None of my words shall be delayed any longer. Whatever I say is final; it shall be done—oracle of the Lord God.

Chapter 13

Against the Prophets of Peace. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, prophesy! Say to those who prophesy their own thoughts: Hear the word of the Lord!^{(CQ) 3} Thus says the Lord God: Woe to those prophets, the fools who follow their own spirit and see nothing.^{(CR) 4} Like foxes among ruins are your prophets, Israel! ⁵ You did not step into the breach, nor repair the wall around the house of Israel so it would stand firm against attack on the day of the Lord. ⁶ False visions! Lying divinations! They say, “The oracle of the Lord,” even though the Lord did not send them. Then they expect their word to be confirmed!^{(CS) 7} Was not the vision you saw false? Did you not report a lying divination when you said, “Oracle of the Lord,” even though I never spoke? ⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore, for certain I am coming at you—oracle of the Lord God. ⁹ My hand is against the prophets who see false visions and who make lying divinations. They shall not belong to the community of my people. They shall not be written in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord.^(CT)

¹⁰ Because they led my people astray, saying, “Peace!” when there is no peace, and when a wall is built, they cover it with whitewash,^{[ap] 11} say then to the whitewashers: I will bring down a flooding rain; hailstones shall fall, and a stormwind shall break forth.^{(CU) 12} When the wall has fallen, will you not be asked: “Where is the whitewash you spread on it?”

¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my fury I will let loose stormwinds; because of my anger there will be flooding rain, and hailstones will fall with destructive wrath.^{(CV) 14} I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, laying bare its foundations. When it falls, you shall be crushed beneath it. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ When I have poured out my fury on the wall and its whitewashers, it will fall. Then I will say to you: No wall! No whitewashers— ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and see visions of peace for it when there is no peace—oracle of the Lord God.^(CW)

Against Witches. ¹⁷ As for you, son of man, now set your face against the daughters of your people who play the prophet from their own thoughts, and prophesy against them.^{(CX) 18} You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to those who sew amulets for the wrists of every arm and make veils^[aq] for every head size to snare lives! You ensnare the lives of my people, even as you preserve your own lives! ¹⁹ You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and crumbs of bread,^[ar] slaying those who should not be slain, and keeping alive those who should not live, lying to my people, who listen to lies. ²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God: See! I am coming after your amulets by which you ensnare lives like prey. I will tear them from your arms and set free the lives of those you have ensnared like prey.^{(CY) 21} I will tear off your veils and deliver my people from your power, so that they shall never again be ensnared by your hands. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord. ²² Because you discourage the righteous with lies when I did not want them to be distressed, and encourage the wicked so they do not turn from their evil ways and save their lives,^{(CZ) 23} therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination again. I will deliver my people from your hand. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord.

Chapter 14

Idolatry and Unfaithfulness. ¹ Some elders of Israel came and sat down before me.^{(DA) 2} Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³ Son of man, these men keep the memory of their idols alive in their hearts, setting the stumbling block of their sin before them. Should I allow myself to be consulted by them? ⁴ Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord God: If any of the house of Israel who keep the memory of their idols in their hearts, setting the stumbling block of their sin before them, come to a prophet, I the Lord will answer in person because of their many idols, ⁵ in order to catch the hearts of the house of Israel, estranged from me because of all their idols.

⁶ Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Return, turn away from your idols; from all your abominations, turn your faces.^{(DB) 7} For if anyone of the house of Israel or any alien residing in Israel who are estranged from me and who keep their idols in their hearts, setting the stumbling block of their sin before them, come to ask a prophet to consult me on their behalf, I the Lord will answer them in person. ⁸ I will set my face against them and make them a sign and a byword, and cut them off from the midst of my people. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord.

^9 (DC)As for the prophet, if he speaks a deceiving word, I the Lord am the one who deceives that prophet.^[as] I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰ They will be punished for their own sins, the inquirer and the prophet alike, ¹¹ so that the house of Israel may no longer stray from me, no longer defile themselves by all their sins. Then they shall be my people, and I shall be their God—oracle of the Lord God.

Just Cause.^{[at] 12} The word of the Lord came to me: ^13 (DD)Son of man, if a land sins against me by breaking faith, and I stretch out my hand against it, breaking its staff of bread and setting famine loose upon it, cutting off from it human being and beast alike— ¹⁴ even if these three were in it, Noah, Daniel, and Job,^[au] they could only save themselves by their righteousness—oracle of the Lord God.^{(DE) 15} If I summoned wild beasts to prowl the land, depopulating it so that it became a wasteland which no one would cross because of the wild beasts,^{(DF) 16} and these three were in it, as I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear they could save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would become a wasteland.^{(DG) 17} Or if I bring the sword upon this land, commanding the sword to pass through the land cutting off from it human being and beast alike,^{(DH) 18} and these three were in it, as I live—oracle of the Lord God—they could save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I send plague into this land, pouring out upon it my bloody wrath, cutting off from it human being and beast alike, ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live—oracle of the Lord God—they could save neither son nor daughter; they would save only themselves by their righteousness.

²¹ Thus says the Lord God: Even though I send against Jerusalem my four evil punishments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—to cut off from it human being and beast alike,^{(DI) 22} there will still be some survivors in it who will bring out sons and daughters. When they come out to you and you see their ways and their deeds, you shall be consoled regarding the evil I brought on Jerusalem, everything I brought upon it. ²³ They shall console you when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that not without reason did I do to it everything I did—oracle of the Lord God.^(DJ)

Chapter 15

Parable of the Vine. ^1 [av]The word of the Lord came to me:

Chapter 16

A Parable of Infidelity. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.^{(DM) 3} You shall say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you belong to the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite.^{[aw](DN) 4 [ax]}As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut; you were not washed with water or anointed; you were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in swaddling clothes.^{(DO) 5} No eye looked on you with pity or compassion to do any of these things for you. Rather, on the day you were born you were left out in the field, rejected.

⁶ Then I passed by and saw you struggling in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live!” ⁷ I helped you grow up like a field plant, so that you grew, maturing into a woman with breasts developed and hair grown; but still you were stark naked. ⁸ I passed by you again and saw that you were now old enough for love. So I spread the corner of my cloak^[ay] over you to cover your nakedness; I swore an oath to you and entered into covenant with you—oracle of the Lord God—and you became mine.^{(DP) 9} Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil.^{(DQ) 10} I clothed you with an embroidered gown, put leather sandals on your feet; I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.^{(DR) 11} I adorned you with jewelry, putting bracelets on your arms, a necklace about your neck,^{(DS) 12} a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver; your garments made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. Fine flour, honey, and olive oil were your food. You were very, very beautiful, fit for royalty.^{(DT) 14} You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfected by the splendor I showered on you—oracle of the Lord God.

¹⁵ But you trusted in your own beauty and used your renown to serve as a prostitute. You poured out your prostitution on every passerby—let it be his.^{(DU) 16 [az]}You took some of your garments and made for yourself gaudy high places, where you served as a prostitute. It has never happened before, nor will it happen again!^{(DV) 17} You took the splendid gold and silver ornaments that I had given you and made for yourself male images and served as a prostitute with them. ¹⁸ You took your embroidered garments to cover them; my oil and my incense you set before them; ¹⁹ the food I had given you, the fine flour, the oil, and the honey with which I fed you, you set before them as a pleasant odor, says the Lord God.^{(DW) 20 [ba](DX)}The sons and daughters you bore for me you took and offered as sacrifices for them to devour! Was it not enough that you had become a prostitute? ^21 (DY)You slaughtered and immolated my children to them, making them pass through fire. ²² In all your abominations and prostitutions you did not remember the days of your youth when you were stark naked, struggling in your blood.^(DZ)

²³ Then after all your evildoing—woe, woe to you! oracle of the Lord God— ²⁴ you built yourself a platform and raised up a dais^[bb] in every public place.^{(EA) 25 (EB)}At every intersection you built yourself a dais so that you could degrade your beauty by spreading your legs for every passerby, multiplying your prostitutions. ²⁶ You served as a prostitute with the Egyptians, your big-membered neighbors, and multiplied your prostitutions to provoke me. ²⁷ Therefore I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your allotment, and delivered you over to the whim of your enemies, the Philistines,^[bc] who were revolted by your depraved conduct.^{(EC) 28} You also served as a prostitute for the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied. Even after serving as a prostitute for them, you were still not satisfied.^{(ED) 29} You increased your prostitutions again, now going to Chaldea, the land of traders; but despite this, you were still not satisfied.^(EE)

³⁰ How wild your lust!—oracle of the Lord God—that you did all these works of a shameless prostitute, ³¹ when you built your platform at every intersection and set up your high place in every public square. But unlike a prostitute, you disdained payment. ³² Adulterous wife, taking strangers in place of her husband! ³³ Prostitutes usually receive gifts. But you bestowed gifts on all your lovers, bribing them to come to you for prostitution from every side.^{(EF) 34} Thus in your prostitution you were different from any other woman. No one solicited you for prostitution. Instead, you yourself offered payment; what a reversal!

³⁵ Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! ³⁶ Thus says the Lord God: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your nakedness in your prostitution with your lovers and your abominable idols, because you gave the life-blood of your children to them, ^37 (EG)therefore, I will now gather together all your lovers with whom you found pleasure, both those you loved and those you hated; I will gather them against you from all sides and expose you naked for them to see. ^38 [bd]I will inflict on you the sentence of adultery and murder; I will bring on you bloody wrath and jealous anger.^{(EH) 39} I will hand you over to them to tear down your platform and demolish your high place, to strip you of your garments and take away your splendid ornaments, leaving you stark naked.^{(EI) 40} They shall lead an assembly against you to stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords.^{(EJ) 41 (EK)}They shall set fire to your homes and inflict punishments on you while many women watch. Thus I will put an end to your prostitution, and you shall never again offer payment. ⁴² When I have spent my fury upon you I will stop being jealous about you, and calm down, no longer angry. ⁴³ Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, see, I am bringing down your ways upon your head—oracle of the Lord God. Have you not added depravity to your other abominations?

⁴⁴ See, everyone who makes proverbs will make this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.” ⁴⁵ Yes, you are truly the daughter of your mother^[be] who rejected her husband and children: you are truly a sister to your sisters who rejected their husbands and children—your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.^{(EL) 46 [bf]}Your elder sister was Samaria with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister was Sodom and her daughters, south of you.^{(EM) 47} Not only did you walk in their ways and act as abominably as they did, but in a very short time you became more corrupt in all your ways than they were.^{(EN) 48} As I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear that your sister Sodom with her daughters have not done the things you and your daughters have done!^{(EO) 49 (EP)}Now look at the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were proud, sated with food, complacent in prosperity. They did not give any help to the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ Instead, they became arrogant and committed abominations before me; then, as you have seen, I removed them.^{(EQ) 51} Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more abominable things than they did. You even made your sisters look righteous, with all the abominations you have done. ⁵² You, then, must bear your disgrace, for you have made a case for your sisters! Because your sins are more abominable than theirs, they seem righteous compared to you. Blush for shame, and bear the disgrace of having made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³ I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters—and your fortunes along with them. ⁵⁴ Thus you must bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done to bring them comfort. ⁵⁵ Yes, your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, shall return to the way they were,^(ER) and you and your daughters shall return to the way you were. ⁵⁶ Did you not hold your sister Sodom in bad repute while you felt proud of yourself, ⁵⁷ before your evil was exposed? Now you are like her, reproached by the Arameans and all their neighbors, despised on all sides by the Philistines.^{(ES) 58} The penalty of your depravity and your abominations—you must bear it all—oracle of the Lord.

⁵⁹ For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you for what you did; you despised an oath by breaking a covenant.^{(ET) 60} But I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young; I will set up an everlasting covenant^[bg] with you.^{(EU) 61} Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, those older and younger than you; I give them to you as daughters, but not by reason of your covenant. ⁶² For I will re-establish my covenant with you, that you may know that I am the Lord,^{(EV) 63} that you may remember and be ashamed, and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, when I pardon you for all you have done—oracle of the Lord God.^(EW)

Chapter 17

The Eagles and the Vine. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, propose a riddle, and tell this proverb to the house of Israel: ³ Thus says the Lord God:

^11 [bh]The word of the Lord came to me:

Chapter 18

Personal Responsibility. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, ² what is the meaning of this proverb you recite in the land of Israel:

³ As I live—oracle of the Lord God: I swear that none of you will ever repeat this proverb in Israel. ⁴ For all life is mine: the life of the parent is like the life of the child, both are mine. Only the one who sins shall die!

⁵ If a man is just—if he does what is right, ⁶ if he does not eat on the mountains,^[bk] or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; if he does not defile a neighbor’s wife, or have relations with a woman during her period;^{(FL) 7 (FM)}if he oppresses no one, gives back the pledge received for a debt, commits no robbery; gives food to the hungry and clothes the naked; ⁸ if he does not lend at interest or exact usury; if he refrains from evildoing and makes a fair judgment between two opponents;^{(FN) 9} if he walks by my statutes and is careful to observe my ordinances, that man is just—he shall surely live—oracle of the Lord God.^(FO)

¹⁰ But if he begets a son who is violent and commits murder, or does any of these things,^{(FP) 11} even though the father does none of them—a son who eats on the mountains, defiles the wife of his neighbor, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not give back a pledge, raises his eyes to idols, does abominable things, ¹³ lends at interest and exacts usury—this son certainly shall not live. Because he practiced all these abominations, he shall surely be put to death; his own blood shall be on him.^(FQ)

¹⁴ But, in turn, if he begets a son who sees all the sins his father commits, yet fears and does not imitate him— ¹⁵ a son who does not eat on the mountains, or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile a neighbor’s wife; ¹⁶ who does not oppress anyone, or exact a pledge, or commit robbery; who gives his food to the hungry and clothes the naked;^{(FR) 17} who refrains from evildoing, accepts no interest or usury, but keeps my ordinances and walks in my statutes—this one shall not die for the sins of his father. He shall surely live! ¹⁸ Only the father, since he committed extortion and robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people—he will die because of his sin! ¹⁹ You ask: “Why is not the son charged with the guilt of his father?” Because the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to observe all my statutes—he shall surely live! ^20 (FS)Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son. Justice belongs to the just, and wickedness to the wicked.

²¹ But if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die! ²² None of the crimes he has committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the justice he has shown. ^23 (FT)Do I find pleasure in the death of the wicked—oracle of the Lord God? Do I not rejoice when they turn from their evil way and live?

²⁴ And if the just turn from justice and do evil, like all the abominations the wicked do, can they do this evil and still live? None of the justice they did shall be remembered, because they acted treacherously and committed these sins; because of this, they shall die.^{(FU) 25 (FV)}You say, “The Lord’s way is not fair!”^[bl] Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair? Are not your ways unfair? ²⁶ When the just turn away from justice to do evil and die, on account of the evil they did they must die. ²⁷ But if the wicked turn from the wickedness they did and do what is right and just, they save their lives; ²⁸ since they turned away from all the sins they committed, they shall live; they shall not die. ²⁹ But the house of Israel says, “The Lord’s way is not fair!” Is it my way that is not fair, house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

^30 (FW)Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, all of you according to your ways—oracle of the Lord God. Turn, turn back from all your crimes, that they may not be a cause of sin for you ever again. ³¹ Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel?^{(FX) 32 (FY)}For I find no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies—oracle of the Lord God. Turn back and live!

Chapter 19

Allegory of the Lions^[bm]

¹ As for you, raise a lamentation over the princes of Israel, ² and say:

Allegory of the Vine Branch

This is a lamentation and serves as a lamentation.

Chapter 20

Israel’s History of Infidelity. ¹ In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month,^[bp] some of the elders of Israel came to consult the Lord and sat down before me.^{(GH) 2} Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³ Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to consult me? As I live, I will not allow myself to be consulted by you!—oracle of the Lord God.

⁴ Will you judge them? Will you judge, son of man? Tell them about the abominations of their ancestors,^{(GI) 5} and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: The day I chose Israel, I swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob; I revealed myself to them in the land of Egypt and swore to them, saying: I am the Lord, your God. ⁶ That day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt to the land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, a jewel among all lands.^{(GJ) 7} Then I said to them: Throw away, each of you, the detestable things^[bq] that held your eyes; do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord, your God.^(GK)

⁸ But they rebelled and refused to listen to me; none of them threw away the detestable things that held their eyes, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I considered pouring out my fury and spending my anger against them there in the land of Egypt.^{(GL) 9} I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be desecrated in the eyes of the nations among whom they were: in the eyes of the nations I had made myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.^{(GM) 10} Therefore I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ^11 (GN)Then I gave them my statutes and made known to them my ordinances, so that everyone who keeps them has life through them. ^12 (GO)I also gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, to show that it is I, the Lord, who makes them holy.

¹³ But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not observe my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances that bring life to those who keep them. My sabbaths, too, they desecrated grievously. Then I considered pouring out my fury on them in the wilderness to put an end to them,^{(GP) 14} but I acted for the sake of my name, so it would not be desecrated in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.^{(GQ) 15} Nevertheless in the wilderness I swore to them that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, a jewel among all the lands. ¹⁶ Their hearts followed after their idols so closely that they did not live by my statutes, but rejected my ordinances and desecrated my sabbaths. ¹⁷ But I looked on them with pity, not wanting to destroy them, so I did not put an end to them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ Then I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the statutes of your parents. Do not keep their ordinances. Do not defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I am the Lord, your God: follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances; ²⁰ keep holy my sabbaths as a sign between me and you so that you may know that I am the Lord, your God.^{(GR) 21} But their children rebelled against me: they did not follow my statutes or keep my ordinances that bring life to those who observe them; my sabbaths they desecrated. Then I considered pouring out my fury on them, spending my anger against them in the wilderness; ²² but I stayed my hand, acting for the sake of my name, lest it be desecrated in the eyes of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³ Nevertheless I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them in other lands, ²⁴ because they did not carry out my ordinances, but rejected my statutes and desecrated my sabbaths, having eyes only for the idols of their ancestors. ²⁵ Therefore I gave them statutes that were not good,^[br] and ordinances through which they could not have life.^{(GS) 26} I let them become defiled by their offerings, by having them make a fiery offering of every womb’s firstborn, in order to ruin them so they might know that I am the Lord.^(GT)

²⁷ Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them: Thus says the Lord God: In this way also your ancestors blasphemed me, breaking faith with me. ²⁸ When I brought them to the land I had sworn to give them, and they saw all its high hills and leafy trees, there they offered sacrifices, there they made offerings to provoke me, there they sent up sweet-smelling oblations, there they poured out their libations.^{(GU) 29} So I said to them, “What is this high place^[bs] to which you go?” Thus its name became “high place” even to this day.^{(GV) 30} Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves in the way your ancestors did? Will you lust after their detestable idols? ³¹ By offering your gifts, by making your children pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols even to this day. Shall I let myself be consulted by you, house of Israel? As I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear I will not let myself be consulted by you!^(GW)

³² What has entered your mind shall never happen: You are thinking, “We shall be like the nations, like the peoples of foreign lands, serving wood and stone.” ³³ As I live—oracle of the Lord God—with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with wrath poured out, I swear I will be king over you!^{(GX) 34} With mighty hand and outstretched arm, with wrath poured out, I will bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries over which you are scattered;^{(GY) 35 [bt]}I will lead you to the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶ Just as I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you—oracle of the Lord God. ³⁷ Thus I will make you pass under the staff^[bu] and will impose on you the terms of the covenant.^{(GZ) 38} I will sort out from you those who defied me and rebelled against me; from the land where they resided as aliens I will bring them out, but they shall not return to the land of Israel. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go! each of you, and worship your idols. Listen to me! You shall never again desecrate my holy name with your offerings and your idols!^{(HA) 40} For on my holy mountain,^[bv] on the highest mountain in Israel—oracle of the Lord God—there the whole house of Israel shall worship me; there in the land I will accept them all, there I will claim your tributes, the best of your offerings, from all your holy things.^{(HB) 41} As a sweet-smelling oblation I will accept you, when I bring you from among the nations and gather you out of the lands over which you were scattered; and through you I will manifest my holiness in the sight of the nations.^{(HC) 42} Thus you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you back to the soil of Israel, the land I swore to give your ancestors. ⁴³ There you shall remember your ways, all the deeds by which you defiled yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves because of all the evil you did.^{(HD) 44} And you shall know that I am the Lord when I deal with you thus, for the sake of my name, not according to your evil ways and wanton deeds, house of Israel—oracle of the Lord God.^(HE)

Chapter 21

The Sword of the Lord. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 [bw]Son of man, turn your face to the south: preach against the south, prophesy against the forest land in the south. ³ Say to the forest in the south: Hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God: See! I am kindling a fire in you that shall devour every green tree as well as every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched so that from south to north every face shall be scorched by it. ⁴ All flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.^(HF)

⁵ But I said, “Ah! Lord God, they are saying about me, ‘Is not this the one who is forever spinning parables?’” ⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Son of man, turn your face toward Jerusalem: preach against its sanctuary, prophesy against the land of Israel.^{(HG) 8} Say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord: See! I am coming against you; I will draw my sword from its scabbard and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.^{[bx] 9} Thus my sword shall come out from its scabbard against all flesh from south to north ¹⁰ and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword from its scabbard. It cannot return again.^(HH)

Act Symbolic of the City’s Fall. ¹¹ As for you, son of man, groan! with shattered loins and bitter grief, groan in their sight. ¹² When they ask you, “Why are you groaning?” you shall say: Because of what I heard!^[by] When it comes every heart shall melt, every hand fall helpless; every spirit will grow faint, and every knee run with water. See, it is coming, it is here!—oracle of the Lord God.

Song of the Sword. ¹³ The word of the Lord came to me:^{(HI) 14} Son of man, prophesy! say: Thus says the Lord:

Nebuchadnezzar at the Crossroads. ²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ Son of man, make for yourself two roads over which the sword of the king of Babylon can come. Both roads shall start out from the same land. Then put a signpost at the head of each road ²⁵ so the sword can come to Rabbah of the Ammonites or to Judah and its fortress, Jerusalem. ²⁶ For the king of Babylon is standing at the fork of the two roads to read the omens:^[cb] he shakes out the arrows, inquires of the teraphim, inspects the liver.^{(HL) 27} Into his right hand has fallen the lot marked “Jerusalem”:^[cc] to order the slaughter, to raise the battle cry, to set the battering rams against the gates, to throw up a ramp, to build siege works. ²⁸ In the eyes of those bound by oath this seems like a false omen; yet the lot taken in hand exposes the wickedness for which they, still bound by oath, will be taken in hand.

²⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because your guilt has been exposed, your crimes laid bare, your sinfulness revealed in all your deeds—because you have been exposed, you shall be taken in hand.^{(HM) 30} And as for you, depraved and wicked prince of Israel, a day is coming to end your life of crime.^{(HN) 31} Thus says the Lord God: Off with the turban and away with the crown! Nothing shall be as it was! Exalt the lowly and bring the exalted low! ³² A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I shall make it! Nothing will be the same until the one comes to whom I have given it for judgment.^(HO)

To the Ammonites.^{[cd] 33} As for you, son of man, prophesy: Thus says the Lord God to the Ammonites and their insults:

Chapter 22

Crimes of Jerusalem. ¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² You,^[ce] son of man, will you judge? will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then make known all its abominations, ³ and say: Thus says the Lord God: O city that sheds blood within itself so that its time has come, that has made idols for its own defilement: ⁴ By the blood you shed you have become guilty, and by the idols you made you have become defiled. You have brought on your day, you have come to the end of your years. Therefore I make you an object of scorn for the nations and a laughingstock for all lands.^{(HP) 5} Those near and those far off will mock you: “Defiled of Name! Queen of Tumult!” ⁶ See! the princes of Israel within you use their power to shed blood.^{[cf] 7} Within you, father and mother are dishonored; they extort the resident alien in your midst; within you, they oppress orphans and widows.^{(HQ) 8} What I consider holy you have rejected, and my sabbaths you have desecrated. ^9 [cg]In you are those who slander to cause bloodshed; within you are those who feast on the mountains; in your midst are those whose actions are depraved.^{(HR) 10} In you are those who uncover the nakedness of their fathers; in you those who coerce women to intercourse during their period.^{(HS) 11 (HT)}There are those in you who do abominable things with their neighbors’ wives, men who defile their daughters-in-law by incest, men who coerce their sisters to intercourse, the daughters of their own fathers. ¹² There are those in you who take bribes to shed blood. You exact interest and usury; you extort profit from your neighbor by violence. But me you have forgotten—oracle of the Lord God.^(HU)

¹³ See, I am clapping my hands because of the profits you extorted and the blood shed in your midst. ¹⁴ Will your heart remain firm, will your hands be strong, in the days when I deal with you? I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will act! ¹⁵ I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you over other lands, so that I may purge your filth. ¹⁶ In you I will allow myself to be desecrated in the eyes of the nations; thus you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ^18 [ch]Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead within a furnace; they have become the dross from silver.^{(HV) 19} Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because all of you have become dross, See! I am gathering you within Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are gathered within a furnace to be blasted with fire to smelt it, so I will gather you together in my furious wrath, put you in, and smelt you.^{(HW) 21} When I have assembled you, I will blast you with the fire of my anger and smelt you with it. ²² Just as silver is smelted in a furnace, so you shall be smelted in it. Thus you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fury on you.

²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ^24 [ci]Son of man, say to her: You are an unclean land receiving no rain at the time of my fury. ²⁵ A conspiracy of its princes is like a roaring lion tearing prey; they devour people, seizing their wealth and precious things, making many widows within her.^{(HX) 26} Her priests violate my law and desecrate what I consider holy; they do not distinguish between holy and common, nor teach the difference between unclean and clean; they pay no attention to my sabbaths, so that I have been desecrated in their midst.^{(HY) 27 (HZ)}Within her, her officials are like wolves tearing prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to extort profit. ^28 (IA)And her prophets cover them with whitewash, seeing false visions and performing lying divinations, saying, “Thus says the Lord God,” although the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they wrong the poor and the needy, and oppress the resident alien without justice. ³⁰ Thus I have searched among them for someone who would build a wall or stand in the breach before me to keep me from destroying the land; but I found no one. ³¹ Therefore I have poured out my fury upon them; with my fiery wrath I have consumed them, bringing down their ways upon their heads—oracle of the Lord God.

Chapter 23

The Two Sisters. ^1 (IB)The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.^{(IC) 3} Even as young girls, they were prostitutes, serving as prostitutes in Egypt. There the Egyptians fondled their breasts and caressed their virgin nipples.^{(ID) 4} Oholah was the name of the elder, and the name of her sister was Oholibah.^[cj] They became mine and gave birth to sons and daughters.^(IE) As for their names: Samaria was Oholah and Jerusalem, Oholibah. ^5 (IF)Oholah became a prostitute while married to me and lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians: warriors ⁶ dressed in purple, governors and officers, all of them handsome young soldiers, mounted on horses. ⁷ She gave herself as a prostitute to them, to all the Assyrian elite; with all those for whom she lusted, she also defiled herself with their idols. ⁸ She did not abandon the prostitution she had begun with the Egyptians, who had lain with her when she was young, fondling her virgin breasts and pouring out their lust upon her.^{(IG) 9} Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians for whom she lusted. ^10 (IH)They exposed her nakedness; her sons and daughters they took away, and her they killed with the sword. She became a byword for women because of the sentence carried out against her.

¹¹ Although her sister Oholibah saw all this, her lust was more depraved than her sister’s; she outdid her in prostitution.^{(II) 12} She too lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officers, warriors impeccably clothed, mounted on horses, all of them handsome young soldiers.^{(IJ) 13} I saw that she had defiled herself—now both had gone down the same path. ¹⁴ She went further in her prostitution: She saw male figures drawn on the wall, images of Chaldeans drawn with vermilion, ¹⁵ with sashes tied about their waists, flowing turbans on their heads, all looking like chariot warriors, images of Babylonians, natives of Chaldea. ¹⁶ As soon as she set eyes on them she lusted for them, and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea.^{(IK) 17} The Babylonians came to her, to her love couch; they defiled her with their impurities. But as soon as they had defiled her, she recoiled from them. ¹⁸ When her prostitution was discovered and her shame revealed, I recoiled from her as I had recoiled from her sister. ¹⁹ But she increased her prostitution, recalling the days of her youth when she had served as a prostitute in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She lusted for the lechers of Egypt, whose members are like those of donkeys, whose thrusts are like those of stallions.

²¹ You reverted to the depravity of your youth, when Egyptians fondled your breasts, caressing your young nipples. ²² Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: I will now stir up your lovers against you, those from whom you recoiled, and I will bring them against you from every side: