Ezekiel 20

And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of ^athe elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and ^bsat before me. ²Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, ³Son of man, speak unto the ^aelders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to inquire of me? ^cAs I live, saith the Lord God, ^dI will not be inquired of by you. ⁴Wilt thou ^ejudge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? ^fcause them to know the abominations of their fathers: ⁵and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when ^gI chose Israel, and ^hlifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and ⁱmade myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I ^hlifted up mine hand unto them, saying, ^kI am the Lord your God; ⁶in the day that I ^hlifted up mine hand unto them, ^lto bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had ^mespied for them, ^lnflowing with milk and honey, which is ⁿthe glory of all lands: ⁷then said I unto them, ^oCast ye away every man the abominations ^pof his eyes, and ^qdefile not yourselves with ^rthe idols of Egypt: ^kI am the Lord your God. ⁸But ^sthey rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man ^ocast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake ^rthe idols of Egypt: ^tthen I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, ^uto accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ^9vBut I wrought ^wfor my name’s sake, ^vthat it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, ^vin whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰Wherefore ^xI caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them ^yinto the wilderness. ¹¹And ^zI gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, ^awhich if a man do, ^abhe shall even live in them. ¹²Moreover also I gave them ^cmy sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that ^dI am the Lord that sanctify them. ¹³But the house of Israel ^erebelled against me in the wilderness: ^fthey walked not in my statutes, and ^fthey despised my judgments, ^awhich if a man do, he shall even live in them; and ^cfmy sabbaths they greatly polluted: ^gthen I said, I would pour out my fury upon them ^hin the wilderness, ^gto consume them. ¹⁴ⁱBut I wrought for my name’s sake, ⁱthat it should not be polluted before the heathen, ⁱin whose sight I brought them out. ¹⁵Yet also I ^klifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ^lflowing with milk and honey, ^lwhich is the glory of all lands; ¹⁶because ^fthey despised my judgments, and ^fwalked not in my statutes, but ^fpolluted ^cmy sabbaths: for ^mtheir heart went after their idols. ¹⁷ⁿNevertheless ^omine eye spared them from destroying them, neither ^pdid I make an end of them in the wilderness. ¹⁸But I said unto ^qtheir children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in ^rthe statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor ^sdefile yourselves with their idols: ¹⁹I am the Lord your God; ^twalk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; ²⁰and ^uhallow ^cmy sabbaths; and ^uuthey shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. ²¹Notwithstanding ^vthe children ^wrebelled against me: ^fthey walked not in my statutes, ^fneither kept my judgments to do them, ^awhich if a man do, he shall even live in them; ^fthey polluted my sabbaths: ^gthen I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, ^wto accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. ²²ⁿNevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and ⁱwrought for my name’s sake, ⁱthat it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. ²³I ^xlifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would ^yscatter them among the heathen, and ^zdisperse them through the countries; ²⁴because ^fthey had not executed my judgments, but ^fhad despised my statutes, and ^fhad polluted my sabbaths, and ^atheir eyes were after their fathers’ idols. ^25bWherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; ²⁶and I polluted them in ^qtheir own gifts, in that ^cthey caused to pass through ^dthe fire ^call that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that ^ethey might know that I am the Lord.

²⁷Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; ^fYet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. ²⁸For when I had brought them into the land, for the which ^gI lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw ^hievery high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their ^iksweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. ²⁹Then I said unto them, ^mWhat is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah ⁿunto this day. ³⁰Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; ^opAre ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and ^pcommit ye whoredom after their abominations? ³¹For when ye offer ^qyour gifts, ^qwhen ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ^oye pollute yourselves with all your idols, ⁿeven unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? ^rAs I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

³²And ^sthat which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, ^tWe will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve ^uwood and stone. ^33rAs I live, saith the Lord God, surely ^vwith a mighty hand, and ^vwith a stretched out arm, and ^wwith fury poured out, will I rule over you: ³⁴and ^xI will bring you out from the people, and ^xwill gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, ^vwith a mighty hand, and ^vwith a stretched out arm, and ^wwith fury poured out. ³⁵And I will bring you into ^ythe wilderness of the people, and there will ^zI plead with you ^aface to face. ^36aaLike as ^zI pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so ^zwill I plead with you, saith the Lord God. ³⁷And ^bI will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: ³⁸and ^cI will ^dpurge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: ^eI will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and ^fthey shall not enter into the land of Israel: ^gand ye shall know that I am the Lord. ³⁹As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; ^hGo ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but ⁱpollute ye my holy name no more with ^kyour gifts, and with your idols. ⁴⁰For ^lin mine holy mountain, ^lin the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall ^mall the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there ⁿwill I accept them, and there will I require ^oyour offerings, and the ^ofirstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. ⁴¹ⁿI will accept you with your sweet savour, when ^pI bring you out from the people, and ^pqgather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and ^rI will be sanctified in you before the heathen. ^42gAnd ye shall know that I am the Lord, when ^qI shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I ^slifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. ⁴³And there ^tshall ye remember ^uyour ways, and all ^uyour doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ^vye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. ^44gAnd ye shall know that I am the Lord, when ^wI have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ^uways, nor according to your corrupt ^udoings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

⁴⁵Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ⁴⁶Son of man, ^xyset thy face toward the south, and ^xzdrop thy word toward the south, and ^zzprophesy against the forest of the south field; ⁴⁷and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, ^aI will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every ^bgreen tree in thee, and every ^bdry tree: the flaming ^cflame shall not be quenched, and all faces ^dfrom the south to the north shall be burnt therein. ⁴⁸And all flesh shall see that ^eI the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched. ⁴⁹Then said I, ^fAh Lord God, they say of me, Doth he not ^gspeak parables?

XXI.