Ezekiel 15-17

New American Standard Bible

Jerusalem like a Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^[a]how is the wood of the ^(A)vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make ^[b]anything, or can even a peg be taken from it on which to hang any utensil? ⁴ If it has been put into the ^(B)fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then good for ^[c]anything? ⁵ Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into ^[d]anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into ^[e]anything! ⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[f]God says: ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷ and I ^(C)set My face against them. Though they have ^(D)come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. ⁸ So I will make the land desolate, because they have ^(E)acted unfaithfully,’” declares the Lord God.

God’s Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^(F)make known to Jerusalem her abominations, ³ and say, ‘This is what the Lord ^[g]God says to Jerusalem: “Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ As for your birth, ^(G)on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. ⁵ No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the ^[h](H)open field, ^[i]for you were abhorred on the day you were born.

⁶ “When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ ⁷ I ^(I)made you ^[j]very numerous, like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.

⁸ “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, ^[k]you were at the time for love; so I ^(J)spread My ^[l]garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also ^(K)swore an oath to you and ^(L)entered into a covenant with you so that you ^(M)became Mine,” declares the Lord God. ⁹ “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and ^(N)anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I also clothed you with ^(O)colorfully woven cloth and put sandals of ^[m]fine leather on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ I adorned you with jewelry, put ^(P)bracelets on your wrists, and a ^(Q)necklace around your neck. ¹² I also put a ^(R)ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a ^(S)beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ So you were adorned with ^(T)gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and colorfully woven cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to ^(U)royalty. ¹⁴ Then your ^(V)fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was ^(W)perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁵ “But you ^(X)trusted in your beauty and ^(Y)became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your ^[n]obscene practices on every passer-by to whom it might be tempting. ¹⁶ You took some of your clothes, made for yourself ^[o]high places of various colors, and committed prostitution on them, which should not come about nor happen. ¹⁷ You also took your beautiful ^[p](Z)jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images so that you might commit prostitution with them. ¹⁸ Then you took your colorfully woven cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. ¹⁹ Also ^(AA)My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, ^[q]you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,” declares the Lord God. ²⁰ “Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to ^(AB)Me and ^(AC)sacrificed them to ^[r]idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter? ²¹ You slaughtered ^(AD)My children and offered them to ^[s]idols by ^(AE)making them pass through the fire. ²² And besides all your abominations and obscene practices, you did not remember the days of ^(AF)your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood.

²³ “Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ declares the Lord God), ²⁴ that you built yourself a ^(AG)shrine and made yourself a ^(AH)high place in every public square. ²⁵ You built yourself a high place at the beginning of ^(AI)every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by and multiplied your obscene practice. ²⁶ You also committed prostitution with the Egyptians, your ^[t]lustful neighbors, and multiplied your obscene practice to ^(AJ)provoke Me to anger. ²⁷ So behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and cut back your rations. And I turned you over to the desire of those who hate you, the ^(AK)daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your outrageous conduct. ²⁸ Moreover, you committed prostitution with the ^(AL)Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you committed prostitution with them and still were not satisfied. ²⁹ You also multiplied your obscene practice with the land of merchants, Chaldea; yet even with this you were not satisfied.”’”

³⁰ “How ^(AM)feverish is your heart,” declares the Lord God, “while you do all these things, the action of a ^[u](AN)bold prostitute! ³¹ When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, in ^(AO)spurning a prostitute’s fee, you were not like a prostitute. ³² You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband! ³³ Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you ^(AP)give your gifts to all your lovers and lavish favors on them so that they will come to you from every direction for your obscene practices. ³⁴ So it is the opposite for you from those women in your obscene practices, in that you are not approached for prostitution, and in the fact that you pay a prostitute’s fee, and no fee is paid to you; so you are the opposite.”

³⁵ Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord. ³⁶ This is what the Lord God says: “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your obscene practices with your lovers and with all your detestable ^(AQ)idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to ^[v]idols, ³⁷ therefore, behold, I am going to ^(AR)gather all your lovers whom you pleased, all those whom you loved as well as all those whom you ^(AS)hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and ^(AT)expose your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness. ³⁸ So I will ^(AU)judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of ^(AV)wrath and jealousy. ³⁹ I will also hand you over to ^[w]your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, ^(AW)strip you of your clothing, take away your ^[x]jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ They will ^[y]incite a ^(AX)crowd against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ And they will ^(AY)burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. Then I will ^(AZ)put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay ^[z]your lovers. ⁴² So I ^(BA)will satisfy My fury against you and My jealousy will leave you, and I will be pacified and ^(BB)no longer be angry. ⁴³ Since you have ^(BC)not remembered the days of your youth but ^[aa]have ^(BD)caused Me unrest by all these things, behold, I in turn will ^(BE)bring your conduct down on your own head,” declares the Lord God, “so that you will not commit this outrageous sin in addition to all your other abominations.

⁴⁴ “Behold, everyone who quotes ^(BF)proverbs will quote this proverb about you, saying, ‘Like ^[ab]mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵ You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the ^(BG)sister of your sisters, who ^(BH)loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ Now your ^(BI)older sister is Samaria, who lives ^[ac]north of you with her ^[ad]daughters; and your younger sister, who lives ^[ae]south of you, is ^(BJ)Sodom with her ^[af]daughters. ⁴⁷ Yet you have not merely walked in their ways and ^[ag]committed their abominations; but, as if that were ^(BK)too little, you also acted ^(BL)more corruptly in all your conduct than they. ⁴⁸ As I live,” declares the Lord God, “Sodom, your sister and her daughters have ^(BM)not done as you and your daughters have done! ⁴⁹ Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had ^(BN)arrogance, ^(BO)plenty of food, and ^(BP)carefree ease, but she did not ^[ah]help the ^(BQ)poor and needy. ⁵⁰ So they were haughty and committed ^(BR)abominations before Me. Therefore I ^(BS)removed them ^[ai]when I saw it. ⁵¹ Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. So you have made your sisters appear ^(BT)innocent by all your abominations which you have committed. ⁵² Also, bear your disgrace in that you have ^[aj]made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted ^(BU)more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear innocent.

⁵³ “Nevertheless, I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and ^[ak]along with them your own fortunes, ⁵⁴ so that you will bear your disgrace and feel ^(BV)ashamed for all that you have done when you become ^(BW)a consolation to them. ⁵⁵ Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, ^[al]will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state. ⁵⁶ As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride, ⁵⁷ before your ^(BX)wickedness was uncovered, ^[am]so now you have become the ^(BY)disgrace of the daughters of ^[an]Edom and of all who are around her, of the daughters of the Philistines—those surrounding you who despise you. ⁵⁸ You have ^(BZ)suffered the penalty of your outrageous sin and abominations,” the Lord declares. ⁵⁹ For this is what the Lord God says: “I will also do with you as you have done, you who have ^(CA)despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

The Covenant Remembered

⁶⁰ “Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an ^(CB)everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹ Then you will ^(CC)remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. ⁶² So I will ^(CD)establish My covenant with you, and you shall ^(CE)know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ so that you may ^(CF)remember and be ashamed, and ^(CG)not open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have ^[ao](CH)forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares.

Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ask a riddle and present a ^(CI)parable to the house of Israel, ^3 [ap]saying, ‘This is what the Lord ^[aq]God says: “A great ^[ar](CJ)eagle with ^(CK)great wings, long pinions, and a full plumage of many colors came to ^[as](CL)Lebanon and took away the top of the ^[at]cedar. ⁴ He broke off the ^[au]topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a ^[av]city of traders. ⁵ He also took ^[aw]from the seed of the land and planted ^[ax]it in ^[ay](CM)fertile soil, a ^[az]meadow beside abundant waters; he set it like a ^(CN)willow. ⁶ Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced shoots and sent out branches.

⁷ “But there was ^[ba]another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine turned its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was ^(CO)planted, so that he might water it. ⁸ It was planted in good ^[bb]soil beside abundant waters, so that it would produce branches and bear fruit, and become a splendid vine.”’ ⁹ Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers—so that all its sprouting shoots wither? And neither by great ^[bc]strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. ¹⁰ Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not ^(CP)completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”’”

Zedekiah’s Rebellion

¹¹ Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹² “Say now to the ^(CQ)rebellious house, ‘Do you not ^(CR)know what these things mean?’ Say, ‘Behold, the ^(CS)king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and leaders, and brought them to him in Babylon. ¹³ Then he took one of the royal ^[bd](CT)family and made a covenant with him, ^[be]putting him under ^(CU)oath. He also took away the ^(CV)mighty of the land, ¹⁴ so that the kingdom would ^(CW)be humbled, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant so that it might continue. ¹⁵ But ^[bf]he ^(CX)revolted against ^[bg]him by sending his messengers to Egypt so that they might give him horses and many ^[bh]troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does these things ^(CY)escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape? ¹⁶ As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘In the ^[bi]country of the king who ^[bj]put him on the throne, whose oath he ^(CZ)despised and whose covenant he broke, ^[bk](DA)in Babylon he shall certainly die. ^17 (DB)Pharaoh with his mighty army and great contingent will not ^[bl]help him in the war, when they pile up assault ramps and build siege walls to eliminate many lives. ¹⁸ Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he ^[bm](DC)pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’” ¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “As I live, My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will certainly ^[bn]inflict on his head. ²⁰ And I will spread My ^(DD)net over him, and he will be ^(DE)caught in My net. Then I will bring him to Babylon and ^(DF)enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. ²¹ All the ^[bo](DG)choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

²² This is what the Lord God says: “I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and ^[bp]set it out; I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a ^(DH)high and lofty mountain. ²³ On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, so that it may bring forth branches and bear fruit, and become a stately ^(DI)cedar. And ^[bq]birds of every ^[br]kind will ^[bs]nest under it; they will ^[bt]nest in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ All the ^(DJ)trees of the field will know that I am the Lord; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree ^(DK)flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will perform it.”