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 you were not thoroughly washed clean with water,^e and you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt,^f and you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth.^g ⁵No eye took pity on you^h to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown into the open fieldⁱ in their despising of you on the day you were born.^j

⁶“ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live! ⁷Grow up;^k I will make you like a plant of the field.” And you grew up, and you became tall and reached full womanhood.^l Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare.

⁸“ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, your time of lovemaking had come,^m and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered intoⁿ a covenant with you,’ declares^o the Lord Yahweh, ‘and you became mine.^p ⁹And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric. ¹¹And I adorned you with ornaments,^q and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. ¹²And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown^r on your head. ¹³And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; you were fit to be a queen.^s ¹⁴And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,’ declares^t the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵‘And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, “Let it be his.” ¹⁶And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful^u shrines, and you prostituted on them; this had not happened before,^v and it will not continue to happen.^w ¹⁷And you took your beautiful jewelry^x made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself male images,^y and you prostituted with them. ¹⁸And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set before them.^z ¹⁹And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it before them^a as a pleasing odor,^b and so it was,’ declares^c the Lord Yahweh. ²⁰‘And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,^d as if your whorings were not enough.^e ²¹And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them to be sacrificed to them.^f ²²And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood when you were naked and bare,^g when you were kicking about in your blood.

²³“ ‘And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!’ declares^h the Lord Yahweh. ²⁴‘And then you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square. ²⁵At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring. ²⁶And you prostituted with the Egyptians,ⁱ your neighbors who were sexually aroused,^j and you increased your fornication to provoke me. ²⁷And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into^k the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of…

Read in Logos

Ezekiel 17:24: “And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Ezekiel 13:22–28:26 in Logos

Footnotes

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”
eLiterally “with water not you were cleansed for cleansing”
fLiterally “being rubbed with salt you were not rubbed with salt”
gLiterally “being wrapped in strips of cloth not you were wrapped in strips of cloth”
hLiterally “not took pity on you an eye”
iLiterally “to the face of the field”
jLiterally “on the day of being born you”
kOr “A myriad I have made you”
lLiterally “ornament of ornaments”
mLiterally “your time was the time of lovemaking”
nHebrew “in”
oLiterally “declaration of”
pLiterally “and you were to me”
qHebrew “ornament”
rLiterally “a crown of splendor”
sLiterally “you could succeed to queenship”
tLiterally “declaration of”
uOr “gaudy”
vLiterally “Not were happening”
wLiterally “and not it will be”; Hebrew text unclear
xLiterally “the jewelry of splendor”
yLiterally “images of a male”
zLiterally “to the face of them”
aLiterally “to the face of them”
bLiterally “a scent of an incense”
cLiterally “declaration of”
dOr “consumed”
eLiterally “it was too little from your whorings”
fLiterally “to cause them to cross over to them”
gLiterally “at your being naked and bare”
hLiterally “declaration of”
iLiterally “sons/children of Egypt”
jLiterally “those being great of flesh”
kHebrew “in”