Bible in 90 Days

²¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ²² Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel that says, “The days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing”?^{(A) 23} Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them: “The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.^{(B) 24} For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.^{(C) 25} But I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfill it, says the Lord God.”^(D)

²⁶ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷ Mortal, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for distant times.”^{(E) 28} Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.”^(F)

False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: “Hear the word of the Lord!”^{(G) 3} Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!^{(H) 4} Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. ⁵ You have not gone up into the breaches or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.^{(I) 6} They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!^{(J) 7} Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.^{(K) 10} Because, in truth, because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these prophets^[a] smear whitewash on it.^{(L) 11} Say to those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of rain,^[b] great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out.^{(M) 12} When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, “Where is the whitewash you smeared on it?” ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain and hailstones in wrath to destroy it. ¹⁴ I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when the city falls, you shall perish within it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.^{(N) 15} Thus I will spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it— ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it when there was no peace, says the Lord God.”^(O)

¹⁷ As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations; prophesy against them^{(P) 18} and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for lives! Will you hunt down lives among my people and maintain your own lives?^{(Q) 19} You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death those who should not die and keeping alive those who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.^(R)

²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives;^[c] I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands; they shall no longer be prey in your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ²² Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives,^{(S) 23} therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.^(T)

God’s Judgments Justified

14 Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.^{(U) 2} And the word of the Lord came to me: ³ Mortal, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and placed their iniquity as a stumbling block before them; shall I let myself be consulted by them?^{(V) 4} Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Any of those of the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to the prophet, I the Lord will answer those who come with the multitude of their idols, ⁵ in order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols.^(W)

⁶ Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.^{(X) 7} For any of those of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside in Israel who separate themselves from me, taking their idols into their hearts and placing their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to a prophet to inquire of me by him, I the Lord will answer them myself.^{(Y) 8} I will set my face against them; I will make them a sign and a byword and cut them off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.^(Z)

⁹ If a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.^{(AA) 10} And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same— ¹¹ so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.^(AB)

¹² The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³ Mortal, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and cut off its supply of bread^[d] and send famine upon it and cut off from it humans and animals,^{(AC) 14} even if Noah, Daniel,^[e] and Job, these three, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God.^{(AD) 15} If I send wild animals through the land to ravage it so that it is made desolate and no one may pass through because of the animals,^{(AE) 16} even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “Let a sword pass through the land,” and I cut off humans and animals from it,^{(AF) 18} though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off humans and animals from it,^{(AG) 20} even if Noah, Daniel,^[f] and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

²¹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four deadly acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild animals, and pestilence, to cut off humans and animals from it!^{(AH) 22} Yet survivors shall be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; they will come out to you. When you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.^{(AI) 23} They shall console you when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that it was not without cause that I did all that I have done in it, says the Lord God.^(AJ)

The Useless Vine

15 The word of the Lord came to me:

⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.^{(AM) 7} I will set my face against them; although they escape from the fire, the fire shall still consume them, and you shall know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them.^{(AN) 8} And I will make the land desolate because they have acted faithlessly, says the Lord God.^(AO)

God’s Faithless Bride

16 The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, make known to Jerusalem her abominations^{(AP) 3} and say: Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.^{(AQ) 4} As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths.^{(AR) 5} No eye pitied you to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you, but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.^(AS)

⁶ I passed by you and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, I said to you, “Live!^{(AT) 7} and grow up^[g] like a plant of the field.” You grew up and became tall and arrived at full womanhood;^[h] your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.^(AU)

⁸ I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.^{(AV) 9} Then I bathed you with water and washed off the blood from you and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I clothed you with embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen and covered you with rich fabric.^{[i] 11} I adorned you with ornaments: I put bracelets on your arms, a chain on your neck,^{(AW) 12} a ring on your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. ¹³ You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, rich fabric,^[j] and embroidered cloth. You had choice flour and honey and oil for food. You grew exceedingly beautiful, fit to be a queen.^{(AX) 14} Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor that I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God.

¹⁵ But you trusted in your beauty and prostituted yourself because of your fame and lavished your prostitutions on any passer-by.^{[k](AY) 16} You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful high places and on them prostituted yourself; nothing like this has ever been or ever shall be.^{[l](AZ) 17} You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and my silver that I had given you and made for yourself male images and with them prostituted yourself,^{(BA) 18} and you took your embroidered garments to cover them and set my oil and my incense before them. ¹⁹ Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey—you set it before them as a pleasing odor, and so it was, says the Lord God. ²⁰ You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. As if your prostitutions were not enough!^{(BB) 21} You slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering to them.^{(BC) 22} And in all your abominations and your prostitutions you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, flailing about in your blood.^(BD)

²³ After all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the Lord God), ²⁴ you built yourself a platform and made yourself a lofty place in every square;^{(BE) 25} at the head of every street you built your lofty place and prostituted your beauty, offering yourself^[m] to every passer-by and multiplying your prostitution.^{(BF) 26} You prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors,^[n] multiplying your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.^{(BG) 27} Therefore I stretched out my hand against you, reduced your rations, and gave you up to the will of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.^{(BH) 28} You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them, and still you were not satisfied.^{(BI) 29} You multiplied your prostitution with Chaldea, the land of merchants, and even with this you were not satisfied.^(BJ)

³⁰ How sick is your heart,^[o] says the Lord God, that you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, ³¹ building your platform at the head of every street and making your lofty place in every square! Yet you were not like a prostitute because you scorned payment. ³² Adulterous wife who receives strangers instead of her husband! ³³ Gifts are given to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from all around for your prostitutions.^{(BK) 34} So you were different from other women in your prostitutions: no one solicited you to prostitute yourself, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; you were different.

³⁵ Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: ³⁶ Thus says the Lord God: Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them,^{(BL) 37} therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated; I will gather them against you from all around and will uncover your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness.^{(BM) 38} I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged and bring blood upon you in wrath and jealousy.^{(BN) 39} I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare.^{(BO) 40} They shall bring up a mob against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.^{(BP) 41} They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; I will stop you from prostituting yourself, and you shall also make no more payments.^{(BQ) 42} So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; I will be calm and will be angry no longer. ⁴³ Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged me with all these things, therefore I have returned your deeds upon your head, says the Lord God.

Have you not committed lewdness beyond all your abominations?^{(BR) 44} See, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.”^{(BS) 45} You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ Your big sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; your little sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.^{(BT) 47} You not only followed their ways and acted according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.^{(BU) 48} As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.^{(BV) 49} This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease but did not aid the poor and needy.^{(BW) 50} They were haughty and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.^{(BX) 51} Samaria has not committed half your sins; you have committed more abominations than they and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed.^{(BY) 52} Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have brought about for your sisters a more favorable judgment; because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³ I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes along with theirs,^{(BZ) 54} in order that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them.^{(CA) 55} As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state; Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state. ⁵⁶ Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, ⁵⁷ before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you are a mockery to the daughters of Edom^[p] and all her neighbors and to the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.^{(CB) 58} You must bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.^(CC)

An Everlasting Covenant

⁵⁹ Yes, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath, breaking the covenant,^{(CD) 60} yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.^{(CE) 61} Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my^[q] covenant with you.^{(CF) 62} I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord,^{(CG) 63} in order that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord God.^(CH)

The Two Eagles and the Vine

17 The word of the Lord came to me: ² O mortal, propound a riddle and speak an allegory to the house of Israel.^{(CI) 3} Say: Thus says the Lord God:

⁹ Say: Thus says the Lord God:

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹² Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and its officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.^{(CN) 13} He took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (he had taken away the chief men of the land),^{(CO) 14} so that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up and that by keeping his covenant it might stand.^{(CP) 15} But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?^{(CQ) 16} As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king resides who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant with him he broke—in Babylon he shall die.^{(CR) 17} Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when ramps are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.^{(CS) 18} Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.^{(CT) 19} Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will surely return upon his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke. ²⁰ I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me.^{(CU) 21} All the pick^[t] of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.^(CV)

Israel Exalted at Last

²² Thus says the Lord God:

Individual Retribution

18 The word of the Lord came to me: ² What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”?^{(CZ) 3} As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. ⁴ Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins who shall die.^(DA)

⁵ If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right— ⁶ if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period,^{(DB) 7} does not oppress anyone but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment,^{(DC) 8} does not take advance or accrued interest, withholds his hand from iniquity, executes true justice between contending parties,^{(DD) 9} follows my statutes, and is careful to observe my ordinances, acting faithfully—such a one is righteous; he shall surely live, says the Lord God.^(DE)

¹⁰ If he has a son who is violent, a shedder of blood,^{(DF) 11} who does any of these things (though his father^[u] does none of them), who eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination,^{(DG) 13} takes advance or accrued interest, shall he then live? He shall not. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely be put to death; his blood shall be upon himself.^(DH)

¹⁴ But if this son has a son who sees all the sins that his father has done, considers, and does not do likewise,^{(DI) 15} who does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ does not wrong anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment,^{(DJ) 17} withholds his hand from iniquity,^[v] takes no advance or accrued interest, observes my ordinances, and follows my statutes, he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, he died for his iniquity.

¹⁹ Yet you say, “Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?” When the son has done what is lawful and right and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live.^{(DK) 20} The person who sins shall die. A child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a parent nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child; the righteousness of the righteous shall be their own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be their own.^(DL)

²¹ But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die.^{(DM) 22} None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them, for the righteousness that they have done they shall live.^{(DN) 23} Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?^{(DO) 24} But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered, for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die.^(DP)

²⁵ Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?^{(DQ) 26} When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed, they shall die. ²⁷ Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. ²⁸ Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin.^{[w](DR) 31} Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?^{(DS) 32} For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.^(DT)

Israel Degraded

19 As for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,^{(DU) 2} and say:

This is a lamentation, and it is used as a lamentation.^(EH)

Israel’s Continuing Rebellion

20 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain elders of Israel came to consult the Lord and sat down before me.^{(EI) 2} And the word of the Lord came to me: ³ Mortal, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Why are you coming? To consult me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be consulted by you. ⁴ Will you judge them, mortal; will you judge them? Then let them know the abominations of their ancestors^{(EJ) 5} and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob—making myself known to them in the land of Egypt—I swore to them, saying, “I am the Lord your God.”^{(EK) 6} On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.^{(EL) 7} And I said to them, “Cast away the detestable things on which your eyes feast, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”^{(EM) 8} But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; not one of them cast away the detestable things on which their eyes feasted, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.^{(EN) 9} But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.^{(EO) 10} So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.^{(EP) 11} I gave them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live.^{(EQ) 12} Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them.^{(ER) 13} But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not observe my statutes but rejected my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live, and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make an end of them.^{(ES) 14} But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands,^{(ET) 16} because they rejected my ordinances and did not observe my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols.^{(EU) 17} Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make an end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I the Lord am your God; follow my statutes, be careful to observe my ordinances,^{(EV) 20} and hallow my Sabbaths that they may be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I the Lord am your God.” ²¹ But the children rebelled against me; they did not follow my statutes and were not careful to observe my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness.^{(EW) 22} But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.^{(EX) 23} Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries,^{(EY) 24} because they had not executed my ordinances but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their ancestors’ idols. ²⁵ Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.^{(EZ) 26} I defiled them through their very gifts, in their offering up all their firstborn, in order that I might horrify them, so that they might know that I am the Lord.^(FA)

²⁷ Therefore, mortal, speak to the house of Israel and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: In this again your ancestors blasphemed me by dealing treacherously with me.^{(FB) 28} For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing odors, and there they poured out their drink offerings.^{(FC) 29} (I said to them, “What is the high place to which you go? So it is called Bamah^[aa] to this day.”) ³⁰ Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your ancestors and go astray after their detestable things? ³¹ When you offer your gifts and make your children pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be consulted by you.^(FD)

³² What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, “Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.”

God Will Restore Israel

³³ As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you.^{(FE) 34} I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, ³⁵ and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.^{(FF) 36} As I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God.^{(FG) 37} I will make you pass under the staff and will bring you within the bond of the covenant.^{(FH) 38} I will purge out the rebels among you and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.^(FI)

³⁹ As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve your idols, every one of you now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me, but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.^(FJ)

⁴⁰ For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred things.^{(FK) 41} As a pleasing odor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations.^{(FL) 42} You shall know that I am the Lord when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your ancestors.^{(FM) 43} There you shall remember your ways and all the deeds by which you have polluted yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed.^{(FN) 44} And you shall know that I am the Lord when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.^(FO)

A Prophecy against the Negeb

^45 [ab]The word of the Lord came to me: ⁴⁶ Mortal, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb;^{(FP) 47} say to the forest of the Negeb: Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God: I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it.^{(FQ) 48} All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.^{(FR) 49} Then I said, “Ah Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of allegories?’ ”^(FS)

The Drawn Sword of God

21 ^[ac]The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel^{(FT) 3} and say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord: I am coming against you and will draw my sword out of its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.^{(FU) 4} Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, ⁵ and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. ⁶ Moan, therefore, mortal; moan with body collapsed and bitter grief before their eyes.^{(FV) 7} And when they say to you, “Why do you moan?” you shall say, “Because of the news that has come. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will turn to water. See, it comes and it will be fulfilled,” says the Lord God.

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ Mortal, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord; say:

¹³ For consider: What! If you despise the rod, will it not happen?^[af] says the Lord God.

¹⁸ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁹ Mortal, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall issue from the same land. And make a signpost; make it for a fork in the road leading to a city;^{(GA) 20} mark out the road for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites or to Judah and to^[ah] Jerusalem the fortified.^{(GB) 21} For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork in the two roads, to use divination; he shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim;^[ai] he inspects the liver.^{(GC) 22} Into his right hand comes the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to call out for slaughter, for raising the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build siege towers. ²³ But to them it will seem like a false divination; they have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, bringing about their capture.^(GD)

²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have brought your guilt to remembrance, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.^[aj]

²⁸ As for you, mortal, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say:

The Bloody City

22 The word of the Lord came to me: ² You, mortal, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to it all its abominable deeds.^{(GM) 3} You shall say: Thus says the Lord God: A city! Shedding blood within itself; its time has come; making its idols, defiling itself. ⁴ You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed and defiled by the idols that you have made; you have brought your days near; the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a disgrace before the nations and a mockery to all the countries. ⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult.

⁶ The princes of Israel in you, everyone according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.^{(GN) 7} Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you.^{(GO) 8} You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.^{(GP) 9} In you are those who slander to shed blood, those in you who eat upon the mountains, who commit lewdness in your midst.^{(GQ) 10} In you they uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women during their menstrual periods.^{(GR) 11} One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you defiles his sister, his father’s daughter.^{(GS) 12} In you, they take bribes to shed blood; you take both advance interest and accrued interest and make gain of your neighbors by extortion, and you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.^(GT)

¹³ See, I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain you have made and at the blood that has been shed within you. ¹⁴ Can your courage endure, or can your hands remain strong in the days when I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.^{(GU) 15} I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your filthiness out of you.^{(GV) 16} And you shall be profaned within yourself in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ Mortal, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them, silver,^[al] bronze, tin, iron, and lead. In the smelter they have become dross.^{(GW) 19} Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰ As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire upon them in order to melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. ²¹ I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted within it. ²² As silver is melted in a smelter, so you shall be melted in it, and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.^(GX)

²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ Mortal, say to it: You are a land that is not cleansed, not rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵ Its princes^[am] within it are like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows within it.^{(GY) 26} Its priests have done violence to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.^{(GZ) 27} Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.^{(HA) 28} Its prophets have smeared whitewash on their behalf, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord God,” when the Lord has not spoken.^{(HB) 29} The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy and have extorted from the alien without justice.^{(HC) 30} And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.^{(HD) 31} Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.^(HE)

Oholah and Oholibah

23 The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; ³ they prostituted themselves in Egypt; they prostituted themselves in their youth; their breasts were caressed there, and their virgin bosoms were fondled.^{(HF) 4} Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.^(HG)

⁵ Oholah prostituted herself while she was mine; she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors^{[an](HH) 6} clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, mounted horsemen. ⁷ She bestowed her sexual favors upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone for whom she lusted.^{(HI) 8} She did not give up her prostitutions that she had practiced since Egypt, for in her youth men had lain with her and fondled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her.^{(HJ) 9} Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.^{(HK) 10} These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. Judgment was executed upon her, and she became a byword among women.^(HL)

¹¹ Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt than she in her lusting and in her prostitutions, which were worse than those of her sister.^{(HM) 12} She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors^[ao] clothed in full armor, mounted horsemen, all of them handsome young men.^{(HN) 13} And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. ¹⁴ But she carried her prostitutions further; she saw male figures carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,^{(HO) 15} with belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers—a picture of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. ¹⁶ When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust, and after she defiled herself with them, she turned from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When she carried on her prostitutions so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned from her sister.^{(HP) 19} Yet she increased her prostitutions, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt ²⁰ and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.^{(HQ) 21} Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians^[ap] fondled your bosom and caressed^[aq] your young breasts.^(HR)

²² Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: I will rouse against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:^{(HS) 23} the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and select leaders, all of them riding on horses.^{(HT) 24} They shall come against you from the north^[ar] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples; they shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their ordinances.^{(HU) 25} I will direct my indignation against you, in order that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. ²⁶ They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your fine jewels.^{(HV) 27} So I will put an end to your lewdness and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; you shall not long for them or remember Egypt any more.^{(HW) 28} For thus says the Lord God: I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, ²⁹ and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your prostitutions shall be exposed. Your lewdness and your prostitutions^{(HX) 30} have brought this upon you, because you prostituted yourself with the nations and polluted yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. ³² Thus says the Lord God:

for I have spoken, says the Lord God.^{(HZ) 35} Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitutions.^(IA)

³⁶ The Lord said to me: Mortal, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds.^{(IB) 37} For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; with their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.^{(IC) 38} Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. ³⁹ For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. This is what they did in my house.^(ID)