Ezekiel 13–28

Israel’s False Prophets Condemned

13The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who ^qare prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ^rHear the word of the Lord! ³This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. ⁴Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. ⁵You did not go up to the gaps ^sor restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶They see false visions and speak lying divinations. ^tThey claim, ‘This is the Lord’s declaration,’ when the Lord did not send them, ^uyet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. ⁷Didn’t you see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you proclaimed, ‘This is the Lord’s declaration,’ even though I had not spoken?

⁸“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am against you because you have spoken falsely and had lying visions.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹“My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. ^vThey will not be present in the fellowship of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰“Since they have led My people astray saying, ‘Peace,’ ^wwhen there is no peace, for when someone builds a wall they plaster it with whitewash, ^x11therefore, tell those who plaster it that it will fall. Torrential rain will come, ^yand I will send hailstones plunging ^zdown, and a windstorm will be released. ¹²Now when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the coat of whitewash that you put on it?’

¹³“So this is what the Lord God says: I will release a windstorm in My wrath. Torrential rain will come in My anger, and hailstones will fall in destructive fury. ¹⁴I will tear down the wall you plastered with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. ^aThe city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. ¹⁵After I exhaust My wrath against the wall and against those who plaster it with whitewash, I will say to you: The wall is no more and neither are those who plastered it— ¹⁶those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace.” ^bThis is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁷“Now, son of man, turn ^ctoward the women of your people who prophesy ^dout of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ^e18and say: This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the women who sew magic bands on the wrist of every hand and who make veils for the heads of people of every height in order to ensnare lives. Will you ensnare the lives of My people but preserve your own? ^f19You profane Me in front of My people for handfuls of barley ^gand scraps of bread; you kill those who should not die and spare those who should not live, when you lie to My people, who listen to lies.

²⁰“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic bands that you ensnare people with like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. I will free the people you have ensnared like birds. ²¹I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, ^hso that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. ²²Because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies, even though I have not caused him grief, ⁱand because you have encouraged the wicked ^jperson not to turn from his evil way to save his life, ²³therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. ^kI will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

Idolatrous Elders Punished

14Some of the elders of Israel came ^lto me and sat down in front of me. ^m2Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put sinful stumbling blocks before their faces. ⁿShould I be consulted by them at all? ^o

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, puts a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him appropriately. ^pI 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 ^qfrom your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things. ⁷For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel separates himself from Me, setting up idols in his heart and putting a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, ^rI, Yahweh, 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. ^sThen you will know that I am Yahweh.

⁹“But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, Yahweh, who deceived that prophet. ^tI will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ^u10They 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 ^vwith all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God.” ^wThis is the declaration of the Lord God.

Four Devastating Judgments

¹²The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, ^xto send famine through it, and to wipe out both man and animal from it, ¹⁴even if these three men ^y—Noah, ^zDaniel, ^aand Job ^b—were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁵“If I allow dangerous animals ^cto 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 deliver their sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. ^d

¹⁷“Or if I bring a sword ^eagainst that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out both man and animal from it, ^f18even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

¹⁹“Or if I send a plague into that land ^gand pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both man and animal from it, ²⁰even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their son or daughter. They would deliver 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 ^hdevastating judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague—in order to wipe out both man and animal 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. ⁱThen 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.” ^jThis 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, ^kthat 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. ^lThe 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!

⁶“Therefore, 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. ^mThey may have escaped from the fire, but it will still consume them. ⁿAnd you will know that I am Yahweh 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, explain Jerusalem’s detestable practices to her. ^o3You 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 Hittite. ^p4As for your birth, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut on the day you were born, ^qand you weren’t washed clean ^rwith water. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ^s5No 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 lying 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! ^t7I made you thrive ^ulike plants of the field. ^vYou grew up and matured and became very beautiful. ^wYour 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. ^xI pledged Myself to you, ^yentered…