Ezekiel 13–28

CHAPTER 13

Yahweh’s Wrath Against Lying Prophets

¹Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

²“Son of man, prophesy against the ^aprophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own heart, ‘^bHear the word of Yahweh!

³‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the ^awickedly foolish prophets who are walking after their own spirit and have ^bseen nothing.

⁴“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among waste places.

⁵“You have not ^agone up into the ^bbreaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^cday of Yahweh.

⁶“They behold ^aworthlessness and lying divination who are saying, ‘Yahweh declares,’ when Yahweh has not sent them; ^byet they wait for the establishing of their word.

⁷“^aDid you not see a worthless vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘Yahweh declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” ’ ”

⁸Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because you have spoken worthlessness and beheld a lie, therefore behold, ^aI am against you,” declares Lord Yahweh.

⁹“So My hand will be against the ^aprophets who see worthless visions and utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of My people, ^bnor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, ¹that you may know that I am Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰“It is definitely because they have ^amisled My people by saying, ‘^bPeace!’ when there is ^cno peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;

¹¹so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash that it will fall. A ^aflooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a stormy wind will break out.

¹²“Now behold, the wall will fall. Will it then not be said to you, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’”

¹³Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will make a stormy wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and ^ahailstones to consume it in wrath.

¹⁴“So I will pull down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its ^afoundation is laid bare; and it will fall, and you will be ^bconsumed in its midst. And you will ^cknow that I am Yahweh.

¹⁵“Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ¹is gone, and its plasterers are gone—

¹⁶the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and who ^asee visions of peace for her when there is ^bno peace,’ declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁷“Now as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are ^aprophesying ^bfrom their own heart. Prophesy against them

¹⁸and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on ¹all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to ^ahunt down ²souls! Will you hunt down My people’s souls, but preserve your own souls?

¹⁹“^aFor handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death souls who should not die and to ^bkeep other souls alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.” ’ ”

²⁰Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt souls there as ¹birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let their souls go, the very souls whom you hunt as ²birds.

²¹“I will also tear off your veils and ^adeliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am Yahweh.

²²“Because you ^adisheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have ^bstrengthened the hands of the wicked not to ^cturn from his evil way and preserve his life,

²³therefore, you women will no longer see ^aworthless visions or practice divination, and I will ^bdeliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will ^cknow that I am Yahweh.”

CHAPTER 14

Idolatrous Elders Punished

¹Then some ^aelders of Israel came to me and ^bsat down before me.

²And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

³“Son of man, these men have ^aset up their idols in their hearts and have ^bput right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be ^cinquired by them at all?

⁴“Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I Yahweh will be brought to give him an answer ¹in light of it, ²in light of the ^amultitude of his idols,

⁵in order to seize the house of Israel by ^atheir heart, those who are ^1bestranged from Me through all their idols.” ’

⁶“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “^1aTurn back and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your ^babominations.

⁷“For anyone of the house of Israel or of the ^asojourners who sojourn in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, ^bI, Yahweh, will be brought to answer him in My own person.

⁸“I will ^aset My face against that man and make him a ^bsign and ¹a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am Yahweh.

⁹“But if the prophet is enticed to speak a word, it is I, Yahweh, who have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and ^adestroy him from among My people Israel.

¹⁰“They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be,

¹¹in order that the house of Israel may no longer ^awander from Me and no longer ^bdefile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be ^cMy people, and I shall be their God,” ’ declares Lord Yahweh.”

Calamitous Judgments of Jerusalem

¹²Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

¹³“Son of man, if a country sins against Me by ^acommitting unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, break its ^bstaff of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast,

¹⁴even ^athough these three men, ^bNoah, ^cDaniel, and ^dJob were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver ^ethemselves,” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁵“If I were to cause ^awild beasts to pass through the land and they bereaved it of children and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,

¹⁶though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. ^aThey alone would be delivered, but the country would become desolate.

¹⁷“Or if I should ^abring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and ^bcut off man and beast from it,’

¹⁸even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

¹⁹“Or if I should send a ^aplague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it,

²⁰even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹For thus says Lord Yahweh, “How much more when ^aI send My four calamitous judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague to cut off man and beast from it!

²²“Yet, behold, ¹survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you, and you will ^asee their way and actions; then you will be ^bcomforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it.

²³“Then they will comfort you when you see their way and actions, so you will know that I have not done ^ain vain all that I did ¹to it,” declares Lord Yahweh.

CHAPTER 15

Is Jerusalem Useful for Anything?

¹Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, how is the wood of the ^avine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

³“Can wood be taken from it to make ¹anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?

⁴“¹If it has been put into the ^afire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends, and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for ²anything?

⁵“Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into ¹anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into ²anything!

⁶“Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

⁷and I will ^agive My face to be against them. Though they have ^bcome out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set My face against them.

⁸‘Thus I will give over the land to desolation because they have ^aacted unfaithfully,’” declares Lord Yahweh.

CHAPTER 16

Jerusalem Plays the Harlot

¹Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, ^amake known to Jerusalem her abominations

³and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem, “Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

⁴“As for your birth, ^aon the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths.

⁵“No eye had pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the ^1aopen field, for your soul was abhorred on the day you were born.

⁶“Then I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood. So I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Indeed I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’

⁷“I ^amade you ¹numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall, and…