Chronological

The Abominations of the Fathers of Israel

20 Now it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, that ^[a]some of the ^(A)elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me. ² And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ³ “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “^(B)I will not be inquired of by you.”’ ⁴ Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? ^(C)Make them know the abominations of their fathers ⁵ and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day when I ^(D)chose Israel and ^[b]swore to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ^(E)I am Yahweh your God, ⁶ on that day I swore to them, ^(F)to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had ^[c]selected for them, ^(G)flowing with milk and honey, which is ^(H)the glory of all lands. ⁷ I said to them, ‘^(I)Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and ^(J)do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; ^(K)I am Yahweh your God.’ ⁸ But they ^(L)rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; each one did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the ^(M)idols of Egypt.

Then I said I would ^(N)pour out My wrath on them, to ^[d]spend My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted ^(O)for the sake of My name, that it should ^(P)not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the ^(Q)wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them My ^(R)statutes and made them know My judgments, ^(S)which, if a man does them, he will live by them. ¹² And I also gave them My sabbaths to be a ^(T)sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. ¹³ But the house of Israel ^(U)rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes, and they rejected My judgments, ^(V)which, if a man does them, he will live by them; and My ^(W)sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would ^(X)pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to completely destroy them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Also ^(Y)I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, ¹⁶ because they rejected My judgments, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their ^(Z)heart continually walked after their idols. ¹⁷ Yet My eye had pity on them rather than bringing them to ruin, and I did not make of them a ^(AA)complete destruction in the wilderness.

¹⁸ “I said to their ^[e](AB)children in the wilderness, ‘^(AC)Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers and do not keep their judgments and do not defile yourselves with their idols. ^19 (AD)I am Yahweh your God; ^(AE)walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. ^20 (AF)Keep My sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.’ ²¹ But the ^(AG)children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to do My judgments, which, if a man does them, he will live by them; they profaned My sabbaths. So I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to spend My anger against them in the wilderness. ²² But I ^(AH)turned back My hand and acted ^(AI)for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³ Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would ^(AJ)scatter them among the nations and ^[f]disperse them among the lands ²⁴ because they had not done My judgments, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and ^(AK)their eyes were going after the idols of their fathers. ²⁵ And I also gave them statutes that were ^(AL)not good and judgments by which they could not live; ²⁶ and I pronounced them ^(AM)unclean because of their gifts, in that they ^(AN)caused all ^[g]their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might ^(AO)know that I am Yahweh.”’

²⁷ “Therefore, son of man, ^(AP)speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Yet in this your fathers have ^(AQ)blasphemed Me by ^(AR)acting unfaithfully against Me. ²⁸ Indeed, I ^(AS)brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, and they saw every ^(AT)high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they gave the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you are going?’ So its name is called ^[h]Bamah to this day.”’ ³⁰ Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Will you defile yourselves in the way of your ^(AU)fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things? ^31 [i]And when you offer your gifts, when you ^(AV)cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “I will not be inquired of by you. ³² And what ^(AW)comes upon your spirit will not happen, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, ^(AX)to minister to wood and stone.’

Yahweh Judges His People

³³ “As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “surely with a strong hand and with an ^(AY)outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be ^(AZ)king over you. ³⁴ And I will ^(BA)bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with ^(BB)wrath poured out; ³⁵ and I will bring you into the ^(BC)wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶ As I ^(BD)entered into judgment with your fathers in the ^(BE)wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares Lord Yahweh. ³⁷ “And I will make you ^(BF)pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; ³⁸ and I will ^(BG)purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will ^(BH)not enter the ^[j]land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh.

³⁹ “As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says Lord Yahweh, “^(BI)Go, serve everyone his idols; ^[k]but after this you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will ^(BJ)profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols. ⁴⁰ For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares Lord Yahweh, “there the whole house of Israel, ^(BK)all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will ^(BL)accept them, and there I will ^[l]seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. ^41 [m]As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I ^(BM)bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself ^(BN)holy among you in the sight of the nations. ⁴² And ^(BO)you will know that I am Yahweh, ^(BP)when I bring you onto the ground of Israel, into the ^(BQ)land which I swore to give to your fathers. ⁴³ And there you will ^(BR)remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will ^(BS)loathe yourselves to your own faces for all the evil things that you have done. ⁴⁴ Then ^(BT)you will know that I am Yahweh when I have dealt with you ^(BU)for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” declares Lord Yahweh.’”

^45 [n]Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁴⁶ “Son of man, set your face toward ^[o]Teman and speak, dripping out words, against the ^(BV)south and ^(BW)prophesy against the ^(BX)forest ^[p]land of the Negev ⁴⁷ and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh: thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to ^(BY)kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every ^[q]green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched, and ^[r](BZ)the whole surface from south to north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸ And all flesh will see that I, Yahweh, have made it burn; it shall ^(CA)not be quenched.”’” ⁴⁹ Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just speaking ^(CB)parables?’”

The Prophecy of Yahweh’s Sword

21 ^[s]And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^(CC)set your face toward Jerusalem and ^(CD)speak, dripping out words against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel ³ and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, ^(CE)I am against you; and I will bring out My sword from its sheath and cut off from you the ^(CF)righteous and the wicked. ⁴ Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go out from its sheath against ^(CG)all flesh from south to north. ⁵ Thus all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have brought out My sword from its sheath. It will ^(CH)not return to its sheath again.”’ ⁶ Now as for you, son of man, groan with breaking ^[t]heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight. ⁷ And it will be that when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the ^(CI)report that is coming; and ^(CJ)every heart will melt, all hands will fall limp, every spirit will ^[u]faint, and all knees will ^[v]be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will happen,’ declares Lord Yahweh.”

⁸ Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says ^[w]the Lord.’ Say,

Or shall we ^[y]rejoice in the ^[z]scepter of My son? The sword ^(CM)despises every tree. ¹¹ It is given to be polished, that it may be seized by the ^[aa]hand; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the one who kills. ^12 (CN)Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people; it is against all the ^(CO)princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people; therefore slap your thigh. ¹³ For there is a testing; and what if even the ^[ab]scepter ^[ac]which the sword despises will be no more?” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁴ “You therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be ^(CP)doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, ¹⁵ that their ^(CQ)hearts may melt, and many will be ^(CR)stumbling blocks at all their ^(CS)gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter. ^16 [ad]Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your ^[ae]edge is appointed. ¹⁷ And I will also strike My hands together, and I will ^[af](CT)cause My wrath to be at rest; I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

A Sword for Slaughter

¹⁸ And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ¹⁹ “Now as for you, son of man, ^[ag](CU)make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And ^[ah]make a signpost; ^[ai]make it at the head of the way to the city. ²⁰ You shall ^[aj]mark a way for the sword to come to ^(CV)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and to Judah into ^(CW)fortified Jerusalem. ²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the ^[ak]parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use ^(CX)divination; he ^(CY)shakes the arrows; he asks the ^[al](CZ)household idols; he looks at the liver. ²² Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to ^(DA)set battering rams, to open the mouth ^[am]for killing, to lift up the voice with a shout of war, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall. ²³ And it will be to them like a worthless divination in their eyes; ^(DB)they have sworn solemn oaths. But he ^(DC)brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.

²⁴ “Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand. ²⁵ And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose ^(DD)day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,’ ²⁶ thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Remove the turban and take off the ^(DE)crown; this will ^[an]no longer be the same. ^(DF)Make high that which is low and make low that which is high. ^27 (DG)A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until ^(DH)He comes to whom the legal judgment belongs, and I will give it to Him.’

²⁸ “Now as for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their ^(DI)reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it ^[ao]to ^(DJ)consume, that it may be like lightning— ²⁹ while they behold for you ^(DK)worthless visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the ^(DL)time of the iniquity of the end. ^30 (DM)Return it to its sheath. In the ^(DN)place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹ And I will ^(DO)pour out My indignation on you; I will ^(DP)blow on you with the fire of My fury, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, ^(DQ)craftsmen of destruction. ³² You will be ^[ap](DR)fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will ^(DS)not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.’”