Ezekiel 13:22–28:26

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 into a covenant with you, and you became Mine.” ^zThis is the declaration of the Lord God. 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 leather 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 chain around your neck. ¹²I put a ring in your nose, ^aearrings on your ears, and a beautiful tiara on your head. ¹³So you were adorned with gold and silver, ^band 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, ^cwhich I had bestowed on you.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁵“But you were confident in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame. ^dYou lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by. ^eYour beauty became his. ^f16You took some of your garments 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! ^g17You also took your beautiful jewelry made from the gold and silver I had given you, ^hand you made male images so that you could engage in prostitution with them. ¹⁸Then you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set My oil and incense before them. ¹⁹You also set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I gave you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I fed you. ⁱThat 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. ^jWasn’t your prostitution enough? ²¹You slaughtered My children and gave them up when you passed them through the fire ^kto the images. ²²In all your detestable practices and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth ^lwhen you were stark naked and lying in your blood.

²³“Then after all your evil—Woe, woe to you!”—the declaration of the Lord God— ²⁴“you built yourself a mound and made yourself an elevated place in every square. ^m25You built your elevated place at the head of every street ⁿand 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 ^oto provoke Me to anger.

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, ^pwho were embarrassed by your indecent behavior. ²⁸Then you engaged in prostitution with the Assyrian men because you were not satisfied. ^qEven though you did this with them, you were still not satisfied. ²⁹So you extended your prostitution to Chaldea, ^rthe land of merchants, but you were not even satisfied with this!

³⁰“How your heart was inflamed with lust”—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 unlike a prostitute because you scorned payment. ^s32You adulterous wife, who receives strangers…