And the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, how is the vine tree more than any tree, or than any branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 Can wood be taken from it to do any work, or will anyone take a pin of it to hang any vessel upon?
4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and the middle of it is burned. Is it useful for anything?
5 Behold, when it was whole, it was not good for any work. How much less will it be worth, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?
6 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 And I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, and another fire will devour them; and you will know that I am YEHOWAH, when I set My face against them.
8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have transgressed grievously,’” says Master YEHOWAH.
CHAPTER 16
Again the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 and say, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, to Jerusalem, “Your birth and your issue is of the land of the Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite.
4 As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not salted at all, nor were you swaddled.
5 No eye pitied you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out into the open field, to the loathing of your person, on the day you were born.
6 And when I passed by you and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said to you, in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’
7 I caused you to multiply as the bud of the field, and you increased and became great, and came to the age of beauty; your breasts were formed and your hair is grown, but you were naked and bare.
8 Now when I passed by you, and looked upon you, behold, you were at the time for love; and I spread My skirt over you, and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,” says Master YEHOWAH, “and you became Mine.
9 Then I washed you with water; yes, I washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
10 I also clothed you with embroidered work, and I put sandals of badger skin on your feet, wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.
11 I decorated you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.
12 And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil, and you were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered into a kingdom.
14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My magnificence, which I put upon you,” says Master YEHOWAH.
15 “But you put trust in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and you poured out your whoredom on every one that passed by; continually.
16 And you took your garments, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should not be, nor will ever again occur.
17 And you took the glorious jewels of gold and silver, which I gave you, and made for yourself images of men, and you played the whore with them.
18 And you took the embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them.
19 My meat also, which I gave you; and fine flour, oil and honey, with which I fed you, you have set before them for a soothing aroma. And so it was,” says Master YEHOWAH.
20 Moreover, you took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and sacrificed them to be devoured. Were your whoredoms a small matter,
21 that you slain My children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
22 And in all your abominations and whoredoms you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and polluted in your blood.
23 And it came to pass, after all your wickedness (‘Woe! Woe unto you!’ says Master YEHOWAH),
24 that you built yourself a place, even a high place of worship in every street.
25 You built yourself a high place at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred, and have opened your legs to every passer-by, and multiplied your whoredom.
26 You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your neighbors, who are great of flesh, and multiplied your whoredom to provoke Me to anger.
27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over you, and have diminished your portion, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd ways.
28 And, you played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still could not be satisfied.
29 Moreover, you multiplied your harlotry in the land of Canaan with the Chaldeans, and yet even with this you were not satisfied.
30 How weak is your heart,”’” says Master YEHOWAH, “seeing you do all these things, the work of a vixen; a whorish woman.
31 You built your high place of worship at the head of every way, and made your high place on every street, but in scorning money, you were not like a harlot,
32 but as an adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!
33 They give gifts to all whores, but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and hire them, that they may come to you on ever side for your whoredom;
34 thus you are contrary from other women in your whoredom, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give reward, while no reward is given you; thus you are contrary.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of YEHOWAH.
36 Thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your whoredom with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and by the blood of your children, which you gave to them,
37 behold, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure; all those whom you loved, and all those whom you hated, and I will gather them round about against you, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
38 And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged; and I will give your blood in wrath and jealousy.
39 And I will give you into their hands, and they will tear down your high places; they will strip also of your clothing, take away your things of beauty and leave you naked and bare.
40 They will also bring up a company against you, and they will stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.
41 And they will burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to stop you from playing the harlot, and you also will give no hire any more.
42 So I will make my fury toward you to rest, and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be appeased, and be angry no more.
43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged Me by all these things, behold, therefore I also will repay your way upon your head,’ says Master YEHOWAH, ‘so that you will not commit this lewdness above all your abominations.
44 Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you, saying, “Like mother, like daughter.”
45 You are your mother’s daughter, 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 was an Amorite.
46 Your older sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives at your right hand, is Sodom with her daughters.
47 Yet you have not walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your ways than they.
48 As I live,’ says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.
49 Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of food, and an abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 And they were proud and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I took them away when I saw it.
51 Neither has Samaria committed half your sins, but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters in all your abominations that you have done.
52 You also, who have judged your sisters, bear your own shame for your sins that you have committed, which are more abominable than they. They are more righteous than you. Yes, be confounded also, and bear your shame, in that you justified your sisters.
53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then the captivity of your captives will I bring again in the midst of them;
54 so that you may bear your own shame, and may be confounded in all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.
55 When your sisters, Sodom with her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria with her daughters, shall return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state.
56 For your sister Sodom was not heard from your mouth in your day of your pride,
57 before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of your reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines; who despise you round about.
58 You have borne your lewdness and abominations,’” says YEHOWAH.
59 For thus says Master YEHOWAH, “I will even deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
60 Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you from the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
61 And you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when you receive your sisters; your older and your younger, and I will give them to you as daughters, but not by your covenant.
62 And I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am YEHOWAH,
63 that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I am appeased toward you for all that you have done,” says Master YEHOWAH.
CHAPTER 17
And the word of YEHOWAH came to me saying,
2 “Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
3 saying, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned and full of feathers, with many colors, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.
4 He plucked off the top of its young twigs and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He also took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field, placing it by abundant waters; and set it like a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots were under him. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 And there was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine bent her roots toward him, and sent out her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in good soil by abundant waters, that it might bring forth branches and bear fruit and that it might be a splendid vine.””
9 Say, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Will it prosper? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers? It will wither in all the leaves of her spring, without great power or many people to be raised from its roots.
10 Behold, though planted, will it prosper? Will it not wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the furrows where it grew.”’”
11 Moreover, the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
12 “Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and has taken its king, and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon.
13 And he took of the king’s seed and made a covenant with him, and has taken an oath from him. He has also taken the mighty of the land,
14 that the kingdom might be humbled, that it might not lift itself up, that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break the covenant and be delivered?
16 As I live,’ says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Surely, in the country where the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, with him in the midst of Babylon, he shall die.
17 Neither will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many people.
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’
19 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘As I live, surely it is My oath that he despised, and My covenant that he broke; even this I will repay on his own head.
20 And I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and judge him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against Me.
21 And all his fugitives, with all his army, will fall by the sword, and the remnant will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, YEHOWAH, have spoken.’”
22 Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “I will also take from the highest branch of the highest cedar, and will establish it; I will crop off from the top of its tender twigs a delicate one, and I will plant it upon a high and exalted mountain.
23 On the mountain of the heights of Israel I will plant it. And it will bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and be a mighty cedar. And under it will dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field will know that I YEHOWAH have brought down the high tree, exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I YEHOWAH have spoken, and it will be done.”
CHAPTER 18
The word of YEHOWAH came to me again, saying,
2 “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 As I live,” says Master YEHOWAH, “You are not to use this proverb in Israel anymore.
4 Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the child is Mine. The soul that sins, it will die!
5 If one is just, and does what is lawful and right,
6 and does not eat upon the mountains, or lift up their eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defiled their neighbor’s spouse, or approached a woman during her menstrual period;
7 and has not oppressed anyone, but restores to the debtor their pledge, has spoiled none by violence, has given their bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing;
8 if they have not charged interest or taken unjust gain; if they withheld their hand from iniquity, has executed true judgment between people,
9 has walked in My statutes and kept My ordinances, so as to deal faithfully; they are righteous; they shall live,” says Master YEHOWAH.
10 “If one begets a violent child, a shedder of blood, who does any one of these to another;
11 and does not any of those things, but even has eaten upon the mountains, and defiled their neighbor’s spouse,
12 has oppressed the poor and needy, has spoiled by violence, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up their eyes to idols, and has committed abominations,
13 has charged interest or taken unjust gain; will they live? They will not live! They have done all these abominations; they will die, and their blood will be upon their own head.
14 Now behold, one begets a child who has seen all the sins of their father or mother, which they have done, and considering, does not do likewise.
15 They do not eat on the mountains, lift up their eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, defile their neighbor’s spouse,
16 oppress anyone, withhold a pledge or exercise robbery, but they give their bread to the hungry and cover the naked with clothing,
17 they keep their hand from the poor, do not take interest or unjust gain, but execute My ordinances, and walk in My statutes; they will not die for the iniquity of their father or mother; they will surely live.
18 As for their father or mother, because they practiced oppression, robbed another and did what was not good among their people, behold, they will die for their iniquity.
19 Yet you say, ‘Why should the child not bear the parent’s iniquity?’ When the child has done that which is lawful and right, had has kept all My statutes, and has kept them, surely they will live.
20 The person who sins will die! The child will not bear the punishment for the parent’s iniquity, nor will the parent bear the punishment for the child’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon them.
21 But if the wicked turn from all the sins that they commit, and keep all My statutes and what is right, they will surely live; they will not die.
22 All the transgressions that they committed will not be reckoned unto them. In their righteousness, which they have done, they will live.
23 I do not delight in the death of the wicked,” says Master YEHOWAH; “instead, that they turn from their ways and live!
24 But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness, and commit iniquity, and do according to all the abominations that a wicked do, will they live? All the righteousness that they have done will not be reckoned unto them. In their trespass that they have trespassed and in their sin that they have sinned; in these will they die.
25 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Master is not equal.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not equal? Is it not your ways that are not equal?
26 When the righteous turn from righteousness, and commit iniquity, and dies in them; for the iniquity that they have committed, they will die.
27 Again, when the wicked turn from the wickedness that they have committed, and practice that which is lawful and right, they shall save their soul.
28 Because they considered and turned from all their transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die.
29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Master is not equal.’ Are not My ways equal, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not equal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one according to their ways,” declares Master YEHOWAH. “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed; and make for yourself a new heart, and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of any who die,” says Master YEHOWAH. “Therefore, repent and live!”
CHAPTER 19
“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel
2 and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness! She lay down among lions; she nourished her cubs among young lions.
3 And she brought up one of her cubs; it became a lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
4 The nations heard of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 And when she saw, she waited, but her hope was lost. So, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 And he walked about among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch his prey; he devoured men.
7 He knew their desolate places, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness of it was desolate, because of the sound of his roaring.
8 Then nations set against him on every side from their provinces, and spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit.
9 And they put him in a cage with chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him in nets so that his voice would no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters. She was fruitful and full of branches because of many waters.
11 And she had strong branches, for the scepters of those that ruled, and her stature was exalted above the branches, and she appeared in her loftiness with the multitude of her branches.
12 But she was plucked up in fury; she was cast down to the ground; and the east wind dried up her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire has gone out from a rod of her branches, and has devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. consumed her shoots and fruit, and there is not a strong branch in her; not a scepter to rule.’” This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
CHAPTER 20
And it came to pass in the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of YEHOWAH, and sat before me.
2 And the word of YEHOWAH came to me saying,
3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Are you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says Master YEHOWAH, “I will not be inquired of by you.
4 Judge them; judge them, son of man. Make them know the abominations of their fathers;
5 and say to them, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “On the day when I chose Israel, and lifted My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted My hand to them, saying, ‘I am YEHOWAH your Elohim,’
6 on the day that I lifted My hand, to bring them forth from the land of Egypt into the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
7 I said to them, ‘Cast away, each of you, the abominable things of your eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am YEHOWAH your Elohim.’
8 But they rebelled against Me and were unwilling to listen to Me; they did not every man cast away the abominable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out My wrath upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be defiled in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
10 Therefore I took them forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My ordinances, by which, if a person does them, they will live.
12 Furthermore, I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am YEHOWAH who sanctifies them.
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they despised My ordinances, by which, if a person observes them, they will live; and My Sabbaths they greatly defiled. Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14 But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be defiled in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up My hand unto 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 despised My ordinances and statutes, not walking in them. They even profaned My Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols.
17 But My eye spared them, so as not to destroy them. Nor did I cause their complete end in the wilderness.
18 But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I am YEHOWAH your Elohim; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them.
20 And hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am YEHOWAH your Elohim.’
21 But the children rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, nor did they keep My judgments to do them, which if a person does, they shall live in them; they polluted My Sabbaths. Then I said, ‘I would pour out My wrath upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.’
22 But I withdrew My hand and acted 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 And I swore an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them across the lands,
24 because they did not observe My judgments, but despised My statutes and polluted My Sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers.
25 I also gave them statutes that were not good and judgments by which they could not live;
26 and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all their firstborn, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am YEHOWAH.’”
27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have committed a trespass against Me.
28 For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore an oath to give to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices; and there they presented 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 go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.”’
30 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “You defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers, and commit whoredom after their abominations.
31 For when you offer your gifts and cause your children to pass through the fire, you pollute yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. Shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says Master YEHOWAH, “I will not be inquired of by you.
32 And that which comes into your mind shall not be; when you say, ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, serving wood and stone.’
33 As I live,” says Master YEHOWAH; “surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will rule over you.
34 I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will plead with you face to face.
36 Just as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead with you,” says Master YEHOWAH.
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the lands where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am YEHOWAH.
39 As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Go, serve everyone your idols; but afterward you will surely listen to Me, but pollute My holy name no more with your gifts and with your idols.
40 For on My holy mountain, on the mountain on the height of Israel,” says Master YEHOWAH, “there will all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve Me. There I will accept them and there I will require your offerings, and the first fruits of your gifts, with all your holy things.
41 I will accept you with your soothing aroma, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
42 And you will know that I am YEHOWAH, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your forefathers.
43 There you will remember your ways, and all your deeds, with which you have been defiled; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil that you have done.
44 And you will know that I am YEHOWAH, when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” says Master YEHOWAH.’”
45 And the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
46 “Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
47 and say to the forest of the south, ‘Hear the word of YEHOWAH: thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree. The flame will not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north will be burned in it.
48 And all flesh will see that I, YEHOWAH, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”’”
49 Then I said, “Ah Master YEHOWAH! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’”
CHAPTER 21
And the word of YEHOWAH came to me saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel;
3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says YEHOWAH, “Behold, I am against you; and I will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
4 Seeing that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north,
5 that all flesh will know that I, YEHOWAH, have drawn forth My sword out of its sheath. It will not return any more.”’
6 Sigh therefore, you son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7 And when they ask, ‘Why do you sigh?’ you shall say, ‘For the tidings; because it comes, and every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and will be brought to pass,’ says Master YEHOWAH.”
8 Again the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
9 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says YEHOWAH.’ Say, ‘A sword, a sword sharpened and also polished!
10 It is sharpened to make a slaughter; it is polished to flash as lightning! Should we then rejoice? It abhors the rod of My son, despising every tree.
11 And he has given it to be polished, that it may be handled. The sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry and howl, son of man, for it will be upon My people, it will be upon all the princes of Israel. Terrors by reason of the sword will be upon My people. Strike therefore upon your thigh.
13 Because it is a trial; and what if the sword despises even the rod? It will be no more.” says Master YEHOWAH.
14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time; the sword of the slain. It is the sword of the great slaying, which even enters into their private chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied. Ah! It is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
16 Go one way or the other, on the right hand, or on the left, wherever your face is set.
17 I will also clap My hands together, and I will cause My wrath to rest. I, YEHOWAH, have said it.”
18 The word of YEHOWAH came to me again saying,
19 “Son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both will go forth from one land. And choose a place; choose it at the head of the way into the city.
20 Appoint a way that the sword may come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Yehudah, into fortified Jerusalem.
21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways to use divination. He made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
22 At his right hand came the divination for Jerusalem; to appoint captains, to open the mouth of the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gate, to cast up a mount, to build a fort.
23 But it will be unto them a false divination in their sight, to those who have sworn oaths. But he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
24 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins do appear; and because you are remembered, you will be taken by the hand.
25 And you, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity will have an end,’
26 thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Remove the diadem, and take off the crown. This will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
27 I will overturn; overturn; overturn it. And it shall be no more, until He comes whose right it is; and I will give it to Him.’
28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach;’’ even say, ‘The sword, the sword is drawn. For the slaughter if is polished, to consume, that it may be as lightning.
29 While they see vanity unto you, while they divine lies unto you, to place you upon the necks of those that are slain; of the wicked, whose day has come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
30 Shall I cause it to return to its sheath? I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.
31 And I will pour out My indignation upon you; I will blow against you in the fire of My wrath, and deliver you into the hand of brutal men, skilled in destruction.
32 You will be for fuel to the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will be remembered no more; for I, YEHOWAH, have spoken.’”
CHAPTER 22
Then the word of YEHOWAH came unto me, saying,
2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, you will show her all her abominations!
3 Then say, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “The city sheds blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against her interest, to defile herself.
4 You become guilty by the blood that you shed, and have defiled yourself by the idols that you make; and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come unto your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all countries.
5 Those near, and those far from you, will mock you, who are infamous and full of tumult.
6 Behold, the princes of Israel, each one was in you in power; each for the purpose of shedding blood.
7 They have cursed father and mother within you, the alien they have treated cruelly in your midst, the fatherless and the widow they have oppressed in you,
8 and they have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
9 In you are those who carry tales to shed blood. And in you they eat upon the mountains. And in the midst of you they commit lewdness.
10 In you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity.
11 Some have committed abominations with their neighbor’s wives, others have lewdly defiled their daughters-in-law and others in you have defiled their sisters, their father’s daughter.
12 In you they have taken bribes to shed blood, have taken interest and unjust gain, have plundered your neighbors for gain by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says Master YEHOWAH.
13 “Behold, therefore, I clap My hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the bloodshed in your midst.
14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the day that I will deal with you? I, YEHOWAH, have spoken and will do it.
15 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you throughout the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from out of you.
16 And you will take your inheritance in yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am YEHOWAH.”’”
17 And the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
19 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the furnace, to blow fire upon it, to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will lay you there and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.
22 As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it. And you will know that I, YEHOWAH, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”
23 And the word of YEHOWAH came to me, saying,
24 “Son of man, say, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.’
25 There is a conspiracy of the prophets in your midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured souls; they have taken treasure and precious things, and have made many widows in your midst.
26 Your priests have violated My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no separation between the holy and the profane, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Your princes in your midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood and destroying souls, in order to get dishonest gain.
28 And your prophets have smeared whitewash on you, beholding vanity and divining lies for you, saying, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH,’ when YEHOWAH has not spoken.
29 The people of the land oppress, extort, rob and plunder; they oppress the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30 I searched for a person among them who would close up the wall, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I would not destroy it; but I found none.
31 Therefore, I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own ways I have brought upon their heads,” says Master YEHOWAH.
CHAPTER 23
The word of YEHOWAH came to me again, saying,
2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
3 and they committed whoredom in Egypt. They committed whoredoms in their youth, and there their breasts were pressed and there they offered up the teats of their virginity.
4 Their names were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister. And they were Mine, and they begat sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Aholah and Jerusalem is Aholibah.
5 And Aholah adulterously fornicated while she was Mine, and she lusted after her lovers; after the Assyrians, her neighbors,
6 who were clothed in violet; captains and rulers; all of them desirable young men; horsemen riding on horses.
7 She committed her fornications with them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria, and with all whom she lusted after; with all their idols she defiled herself.
8 She did not forsake her whoredom from Egypt; for in her youth they had lain with her, and they bruised the teats of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
9 Therefore, I gave her into the hands of her lovers; into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted,
10 and they uncovered her nakedness. They took her sons and her daughters, and they slew her with the sword. Thus she became renowned among women, for they had executed judgment upon her.
11 And her sister Aholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms exceeded the whoredom of her sister.
12 She lusted after the sons of Assyrians neighbors, captains and rulers, all gorgeously attired, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled; that they both took one way.
14 And she increased her whoredom. For when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
15 girded with girdles on their loins, and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity.
16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, 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 whoredom. And she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
18 So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness. Then My mind was alienated from her, as I had become alienated from her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her whoredom, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she lusted after their concubines, whose flesh is like the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 And you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians defiled your teats and handled the breasts of your youth.
22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, through whom your mind was alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side;
23 the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them. All of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
24 And they will come against you with chariots, and wagons, and wheels, and with a company of people. They will set themselves against you on every side, armed, with shield and helmet; and I will appoint judgment before them, and they will judge you according to their judgments.
25 And I will set My jealousy against you, and they will deal furiously with you. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your remnant will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant will be devoured by the fire.
26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
27 Thus I will make your lewdness to cease from you, and your whoredom, brought from the land of Egypt. So that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’
28 For thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated.
29 And they will deal with you in hatred, and will take away all your property, and will leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your whoredoms will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your whoredoms.
30 I will do these things unto you, because you have polluted with their idols.
31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup into your hands.’
32 Thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, which is deep and wide; you will be laughed at and held in scorn, for it contains much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation; the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will drink it, and suck it out, and you will break the vessel, and pluck off your own breasts; for I have spoken,’ says Master YEHOWAH.
35 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Because you have forgotten Me, and cast Me behind your back, bear now your lewdness and your whoredom.’”
36 Moreover, YEHOWAH said to me, “Son of man, judge Aholah and Aholibah, and declare to them their abominations,
37 that they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands, and with their idols they have committed adultery, and have also caused their children, whom they bore unto Me, to pass through the fire to them as food.
38 Moreover, this they have done to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary and on the same day, profaned My Sabbaths.
39 For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus they have done in the midst of My house.
40 Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came, for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourselves with ornaments;
41 and you sat on a glorious bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you have set My incense and My oil.
42 And a voice of a multitude, at ease with her; and with the men of a common sort, bringing Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads..
43 Then I said unto her who was old in adulteries, ‘Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?’
44 And they went in to her, as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Aholah and in to Aholibah, the lewd women.
45 But righteous will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is in their hands.
46 For thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘I will bring up an assembly against them and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47 And the assembly will stone them with stones, and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.
48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease from out of the land; that all women will be taught not to do after your lewdness.
49 And they will repay your lewdness upon you, and you will bear the sins of your idols. And you will know that I am Master YEHOWAH.’”
CHAPTER 24
Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of YEHOWAH came unto me, saying,
2 “Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day, for the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
3 Speak a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Put on the pot, put it on, and also pour water into it.
4 Gather the pieces unto it, even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.
5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil. And let them seethe its bones in it.”
6 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum is not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.
8 That it might cause wrath to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.”
9 Therefore, thus says Master YEHOWAH, “Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile for fire great.
10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, boil the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
11 Then set it empty on its coals, so that it may be hot and its brass may glow, and its filthiness may be melted in it, and it the scum of it consumed.
12 She has wearied herself with lies, and her great scum has not departed from her; her scum will be in the fire!
13 In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I purged you, and you were not purged, you will not be purged from your filthiness anymore, until I have caused my fury to rest on you.
14 I, YEHOWAH, have spoken; it is coming and I will do it. I will not go back, and I will not have pity and I will not repent. According to your ways and according to your deeds shall they judge you,” says Master YEHOWAH.'”
15 And the word of YEHOWAH came to me saying,
16 “Son of man, behold, I am taking from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; but you shall not mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.
17 Silently cry, make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and cover not your lips, and do not eat the bread of men.”
18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.
19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?”
20 Then I said to them, “The word of YEHOWAH came to me saying,
21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says Master YEHOWAH, ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul delights; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left will fall by the sword.
22 And you will do as I have done; you will not cover your lip and you will not eat the bread of men.
23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will be consumed in your iniquities and you will mourn one toward another.
24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you. According to all that he has done, you will do; and when it comes, then you will know that I am Master YEHOWAH.
25 As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their beauty, the desire of their eyes, and their heart’s delight; their sons and their daughters,
26 that they who escape on that day, shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?
27 On that day your mouth will be opened to those who escape, and you will speak and be mute no more. And you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am YEHOWAH.’”
