Ezekiel 13:22–Ezekiel 28

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 came into the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.

⁸“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, ¹you were at the time for love; so I ^aspread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also ^bswore to you and ^centered into a covenant with you so that you ^dbecame Mine,” declares Lord Yahweh.

⁹“Then I washed you with water, rinsed your blood off from you, and ^aanointed you with oil.

¹⁰“I also clothed you with ^aembroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.

¹¹“I also adorned you with ornaments and put ^abracelets on your hands and a ^bnecklace around your neck.

¹²“I also put a ^aring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a ^bsplendid crown on your head.

¹³“Thus you were adorned with ^agold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to ^broyalty.

¹⁴“Then your ^aname went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was ^bperfect because of My majesty which I set on you,” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁵“But you ^atrusted in your beauty and ^bplayed the harlot because of your name, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by ¹who might be willing.

¹⁶“You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors, and played the harlot on them, ¹which should never come about nor happen.

¹⁷“You also took your splendid ^1ajewelry made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them.

¹⁸“Then you took your embroidered cloth and covered them and gave My oil and My incense before them.

¹⁹“Also ^aMy bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I had you eat, you gave before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,” declares Lord Yahweh.

²⁰“Moreover, you took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne to ^aMe, and ^bsacrificed them to ¹idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter?

²¹“You slaughtered ^aMy children and gave them up to ¹idols by ^bcausing them to pass through the fire.

²²“Besides all your abominations and harlotries you did not remember the days of ^ayour youth, when you were naked and bare—you were squirming in your blood!

²³“Now it happened after all your evil—‘Woe, woe to you!’ declares Lord Yahweh—

²⁴that you built yourself a ^ashrine and made yourself a ^bhigh place in every square.

²⁵“You built yourself a high place at the head of ^aevery street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry.

²⁶“You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your ¹lustful neighbors, and you multiplied your harlotry to ^aprovoke Me to anger.

²⁷“Behold now, I have stretched out My hand against you and cut off your rations. And I gave you up to the desire of those who hate you, the ^adaughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

²⁸“Moreover, you played the harlot with the ^aAssyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied.

²⁹“You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied.” ’ ”

³⁰“How ^alanguishing is your heart,” declares Lord Yahweh, “while you do all these things, the actions of a ^1bbold-faced harlot.

³¹“When you built your shrine at the head of every way and made your high place in…