Ezekiel 13:22–28:26

²²Because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (when I intended no distress),^q and because you have supported^B the wicked^r person so that he does not turn from his evil way to save his life, ²³therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination.^s I will rescue my people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

IDOLATROUS ELDERS PUNISHED

14Some of the elders of Israel came^t to me and sat down in front of me.^{u 2}Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put their sinful stumbling blocks in front of themselves.^v Should I actually let them inquire of me?^w

⁴“Therefore, speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart and puts his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet, I, the Lord, will answer him appropriately.^C I will answer him according to his many idols, ⁵so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from me because of their idols.’

⁶“Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Repent and turn away^a from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things. ⁷For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside in Israel separates himself from me, setting up idols in his heart and putting his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of me, I, the Lord, will answer him myself. ⁸I will turn against that one and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among my people.^b Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹“ ‘But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, the Lord, who deceived that prophet.^c I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.^{d 10}They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the one who inquires will be the same as that of the prophet—¹¹in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following me and no longer defile themselves^e with all their transgressions. Then they will be my people and I will be their God.^f This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ ”

FOUR DEVASTATING JUDGMENTS

¹²The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³“Son of man, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its supply of bread,^g to send famine through it, and to wipe out both people and animals from it. ¹⁴Even if these three men^h —Noah,ⁱ Daniel,^j and Job^k —were in it, they would rescue only themselves by their righteousness.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁵“Suppose I allow dangerous animals^l to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals. ¹⁶Even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not rescue their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued, but the land would be desolate.^m

¹⁷“Or suppose I bring a swordⁿ against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I wipe out both people and animals from it.^{o 18}Even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not rescue their sons or daughters, but they alone would be rescued.

¹⁹“Or suppose I send a plague into that land^p and pour out my wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both people and animals from it. ²⁰Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not rescue their son or daughter. They would rescue only themselves by their righteousness.

²¹“For this is what the Lord God says: How much worse will it be when I send my four^q devastating judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague—in order to wipe out both people and animals from it! ²²Even so, there will be survivors left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. Indeed, they will come out to you, and you will observe their conduct and actions.^r Then you will be consoled about the devastation I have brought on Jerusalem, about all I have brought on it. ²³They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done what I did to it.”^s This is the declaration of the Lord God.

PARABLE OF THE USELESS VINE

15Then the word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine,^t that branch among the trees of the forest, compare to any other wood? ³Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? ⁴In fact, it is put into the fire as fuel.^u The fire devours both of its ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!”

⁶Therefore, this is what the Lord God says, “Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire as fuel, so I will give up the residents of Jerusalem. ⁷I will turn against them.^v They may have escaped from the fire, but it will still consume them.^w And you will know that I am the Lord when I turn against them. ⁸I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

PARABLE OF GOD’S ADULTEROUS WIFE

16The word of the Lord came to me again: ²“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices.^{a 3}You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hethite.^{b 4}As for your birth, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut on the day you were born,^c and you weren’t washed clean^A with water. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.^{d 5}No one cared enough about you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. But you were thrown out into the open field because you were despised on the day you were born.

⁶“ ‘I passed by you and saw you thrashing around in your blood, and I said to you as you lay in your blood, “Live!” Yes, I said to you as you lay in your blood, “Live!”^{B 7}I made you thrive^C like plants of the field.^e You grew up and matured and became very beautiful.^D Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were stark naked.

⁸“ ‘Then I passed by you and saw you, and you were indeed at the age for love. So I spread the edge of my garment over you and covered your nakedness.^f I pledged myself to you,^g entered into a covenant with you—this is the declaration of the Lord God—and you became mine.^{h 9}I washed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰I clothed you in embroidered cloth and provided you with fine leather^A sandals. I also wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹I adorned you with jewelry, putting bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. ¹²I put a ring in your nose,ⁱ earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³So you were adorned with gold and silver,^j and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained royalty. ¹⁴Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through my splendor,^k which I had bestowed on you. This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁵“ ‘But you trusted in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame.^l You lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by.^m Your beauty became his.^{A 16}You took some of your clothing and made colorful high places for yourself, and you engaged in prostitution on them. These places should not have been built, and this should never have happened!^{A 17}You also took your beautiful jewelry made from the gold and silver I had given you, and you made male images so that you could engage in prostitution with them.^{n 18}Then you took your embroidered clothing to cover them and set my oil and incense before them. ¹⁹The food that I gave you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I fed you—you set it before them as a pleasing aroma.^o That is what happened. This is the declaration of the Lord God.

²⁰“ ‘You even took your sons and daughters you bore to me and sacrificed them to these images as food.^p Wasn’t your prostitution enough? ²¹You slaughtered my children and gave them up when you passed them through the fire^q to the images. ²²In all your detestable practices and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth^r when you were stark naked and thrashing around in your blood.

²³“ ‘Then after all your evil—Woe, woe to you!—the declaration of the Lord God—²⁴you built yourself a mound and made yourself an elevated place in every square.^{s 25}You built your elevated place at the head of every street^t and turned your beauty into a detestable thing. You spread your legs to everyone who passed by and increased your prostitution. ²⁶You engaged in promiscuous acts with Egyptian men, your well-endowed neighbors, and increased your prostitution^u to anger me.

²⁷“ ‘Therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your provisions. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the Philistine women,^v who were embarrassed by your indecent conduct. ²⁸Then you engaged in prostitution with the Assyrian men because you were not satisfied.^w Even though you did this with them, you were still not satisfied. ²⁹So you extended your prostitution to Chaldea,^x the land of merchants, but you were not even satisfied with this!

³⁰“ ‘How your heart was inflamed with lust^B—the declaration of the Lord God—when you did all these things, the acts of a brazen prostitute, ³¹building your mound at the head of every street and making your elevated place in every square. But you were…