13And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^a ²“Son of man,^b prophesy to^c the prophets of Israel who are prophesying,^d and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own imagination,^e ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’ ³Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, and they did not see anything!^f ⁴Your prophets have been like foxes^g among ruins. ⁵You did not go up into^h the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh. ⁶They saw falseness and a lying divination,ⁱ the ones saying, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait for the confirmation of their word.^j ⁷Have you not seen a false vision^k and spoken a lying divination,^l and you said, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ but I myself did not speak.^m ⁸Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!” declaresⁿ the Lord Yahweh. ⁹“And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into^o the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁰Because, yes, because they led my people astray, saying^p ‘Peace!’ And there is not peace. And when anyone^q builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. ¹¹Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be a torrent of rain,^r and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! ^s And a windstorm^t will burst forth! ¹²And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ ¹³Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And so I will let burst forth a windstorm^u in my rage, and there will be a torrent of rain^v in my anger, and hailstones in my rage for complete destruction.^w ¹⁴And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! ¹⁵And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more,^x and the people covering it are no more,^y ¹⁶that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!’ ” ” declares^z the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁷“And you, son of man,^a place your face toward the daughters of your people who prophesy from their imagination,^b and prophesy against them! ¹⁸And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to those who sew^c magic charm bands on all the wrists^d of the hands of my people and those who make the veils^e that are on the head of people of every height, to ensnare people’s lives!^f Will you ensnare the lives^g of my people and keep yourselves alive?^h ¹⁹And you defiled me among my people for a handful of barley and for morsels of bread to kill persons who should not die and to keep alive persons who should not live by means of your lies to my people who are listening to your lies.” ’ⁱ ²⁰Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against your magic charm bands with which you are ensnaring persons^j as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you are ensnaring, treating persons as birds. ²¹And I will tear off your veils, and I will deliver my people from your hand, and they will not any longer be in your hand as prey, and you will know that I am Yahweh. ²²Because you disheartened the heart of the righteous by deception, and I have not^k caused him pain, and strengthened the hands of the wicked so that he did not turn^l from his wicked way to save his life. ²³Therefore falseness^m you will not see,ⁿ and divination you will not practice^o any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I am Yahweh!’ ”

Condemnation of Israel’s Idolatrous Elders

14And men from the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat before me.^a ²And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^b ³“Son of man,^c these men took up their idols into their heart and they placed before themselves^d a stumbling block of their guilt.^e Should I really let myself be consulted by them?^f ⁴Therefore speak with them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Every person from the house of Israel who brings up his idols into his heart and places before himself^g a stumbling block of his guilt^h and yet he comes to the prophet, I Yahweh, I will respond to him through this actⁱ with respect to the multitude^j of his idols, ⁵so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from me, all of them, through their idols.’ ⁶Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Return,^k and turn away from your idols and from all of your detestable things! Turn away your faces!” ’ ⁷For each person^l from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself from following me^m and brings up his idols into his heart and places before himselfⁿ a stumbling block of his guilt^o, and yet he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer^p him myself. ⁸And I will set my face against that person, and I will make him to^q be a sign and make him into^r the subject of proverbs; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know I am Yahweh. ⁹And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰And they will bear their guilt, like^s the guilt of the inquirer so^t the guilt of the prophet will be, ¹¹so that the house of Israel will not go astray again from me,^u and they will not make themselves unclean again with all of their transgressions, and they will be for me a people, and I will be for them as God,” declares^v the Lord Yahweh.

Jerusalem will not be Spared

¹²And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^w ¹³“Son of man,^x when a land sins against me by acting very unfaithfully,^y then I will stretch out my hand against it, and I will break for it the supply of food,^z and I will send against it famine, and I will cut it off, both human and animal. ¹⁴And if even the three of these men were in the midst of it—Noah, Daniel, and Job—they, through their righteousness, would save only themselves!”^a declares^b the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵“If a fierce animal I should let cross through the land, and it should make it childless and it will be a desolation, so that there will not be one crossing over the land due to^c the presence of the animal, ¹⁶even if these three men were in the midst of it, as surely as I live,”^d declares^e the Lord Yahweh, “surely they will not save sons and daughters; they themselves alone,^f they will be saved, but the land will be a desolation. ¹⁷Or, if I bring a sword over that land, and I say, ‘Sword, let it cross over into^g the land!’ And I will cut off from it both human and animal. ¹⁸And if these three men were in the midst of it, as surely as I live,”^h declaresⁱ the Lord Yahweh, “they will not save sons and daughters, but they alone^j will be saved. ¹⁹And if I were to send a plague to that land, and I pour out my rage on it with blood to cut it off, both human and animal, ²⁰and if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of her, as surely as I live,”^k declares^l the Lord Yahweh, “surely not a son, surely not a daughter will they save by their righteousness; they would save themselves.”^m ²¹For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “How much more when I send my four punishments—the evil sword, and famine, and a fierce animal, and a plague—to Jerusalem to cut it off, both human and animal! ²²Butⁿ look! A remnant will be left over in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out.^o Look! They are coming out to you, and you will see their way, and with their deeds you will be consoled with respect to^p the evil that I brought over Jerusalem, all of it that I brought over^q it. ²³And they will console you when you see their way and their deeds, and you will know that not for nothing I did all that I did in it,” declares^r the Lord Yahweh.

Jerusalem a Useless Vine

15And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^a ²“Son of man, how will the wood of the vine be better than^b any of the wood of^c the branch which is among the trees of the forest?^d ³Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can they take a tent peg from it to hang on it any object?^e ⁴Look! It is given to the fire as fuel. The fire will consume two of its ends, and its middle will be charred. Is it useful for anything? ⁵Look! When it is in perfect condition,^f it will not be used for anything, how much less^g when the fire has consumed it^h and it is charred; and then can it be used again for anything? ⁶Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Just likeⁱ the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest^j which I gave to the fire for fuel, so I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷And I will set my face against them. From the fire they may escape,^k but the fire will yet consume them, and they will know that I am Yahweh when I set my face against them.^l ⁸And I will make the land a desolation because they acted very unfaithfully!”^m declaresⁿ the Lord Yahweh.

God’s Covenant Grace to Unfaithful and Rebellious Israel

16And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^a ²“Son of man,^b make known to Jerusalem its detestable things, ³and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,^c your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴And as for your birth, on the day you were born^d your umbilical cord was not cut, and…

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Ezekiel 13–28 in Logos

Footnotes

aOr “to say”
bOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
cOr “against”
dLiterally “the ones prophesying”
eLiterally “heart”
fLiterally “and not they saw”
gOr “jackals”
hHebrew “in”
iLiterally “a divination of a lie”
jLiterally “to confirm a word”
kLiterally “vision of falseness”
lLiterally “divination of a lie”
mLiterally “I not I spoke”
nLiterally “declaration of”
oHebrew “in”
pLiterally “to say”
qHebrew “he”
rLiterally “rain flooding”
sOr “and I will give great hailstones. They will fall”
tLiterally “wind of a storm”; or “with respect/concerning you stones of hail, they will fall”
uLiterally “a wind of storm”
vLiterally “rain flooding there will be”
wLiterally “to complete destruction”
xLiterally “not is the wall”
yLiterally “not are the people whitewashing him”
zLiterally “declaration of”
aOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
bLiterally “heart”
cLiterally “the sewers of”
dOr “joints”
eLiterally “the makers of the veils”
fOr “souls”
gOr “souls”
hLiterally “and lives/souls for you, you keep alive”
iHebrew “lie”
jLiterally “which you are ensnaring with them the souls/individuals”
kOr “did not”
lOr “not to turn”
mOr “vanity” or “vain/false visions”
nOr “observe”
oOr “you will indeed not practice divination”
aLiterally “to the face of me”
bLiterally “to say”
cOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
dLiterally “they gave before their faces”
eOr “iniquity”
fLiterally “Surely I will let me be consulted by them?”
gLiterally “they gave before their faces”
hOr “iniquity”
iHebrew “it”
jAccording to the Kethib; the Qere reads “I will respond to him, he who comes with the multitude of his idols”
kOr “Repent”
lLiterally “a man, a man” or “each one, each one”
mLiterally “from behind me”
nLiterally “he puts beside his face”
oOr “iniquity”
pOr “am answering”
qOr “as”
rHebrew “to”
sOr “as”
tOr “like”
uLiterally “from behind me”
vLiterally “declaration of”
wLiterally “to say”
xOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
yLiterally “acting unfaithfully doing infidelity”
zLiterally “staff of bread”
aLiterally “their souls”
bLiterally “declaration of”
cLiterally “from the face of”
dLiterally “live I”
eLiterally “declaration of”
fLiterally “they to alone them”
gHebrew “in”
hLiterally “live I”
iLiterally “declaration of”
jLiterally “they to alone them”
kLiterally “live I”
lLiterally “declaration of”
mLiterally “their souls”
nOr “And”
oLiterally “the ones being brought out”
pHebrew “for”
qOr “upon”
rLiterally “declaration of”
aLiterally “to say”
bLiterally “more than”
cLiterally “all of the wood of”
dOr “wood”
eOr “vessel”
fLiterally “In being it perfect”
gLiterally “indeed”
hLiterally “for if fire has consumed it”
iLiterally “As that”
jOr “wood”
kLiterally “go out”
lLiterally “in to set me my face against them”
mLiterally “they displayed infidelity”
nLiterally “declaration of”
aLiterally “to say”
bOr “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
cHebrew “Canaanite”
dLiterally “on the day of being born you”