Ezekiel 13–28

Chapter 13

False Prophets Condemned

¹Then the word of the Lord 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 ¹inspiration, ‘^bListen to the word of the Lord!

³‘Thus says the Lord ¹God, “Woe to the ^afoolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have ^bseen nothing.

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

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 the Lord.

⁶“They see ^1afalsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; ^byet they hope for the fulfillment of their word.

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

⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken ¹falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, ^aI am against you,” declares the Lord God.

⁹“So My hand will be against the ^aprophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will ¹have no place 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, ²that you may know that I am the Lord God.

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 violent wind will break out.

¹²“Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’ ”

¹³Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent 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 tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its ^afoundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be ^bconsumed in its midst. And you will ^cknow that I am the Lord.

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,

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

¹⁷“Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are ^aprophesying ^bfrom their own ¹inspiration. Prophesy against them

¹⁸and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “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 ²lives! Will you hunt down the lives of My people, but preserve the lives of others for yourselves?

¹⁹“^aFor handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death ¹some who should not die and to ^bkeep others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.” ’ ”

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

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 the Lord.

²²“Because you ^adisheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have ^1bencouraged the wicked not to ^cturn from his wicked way and preserve his life,

²³therefore, you women will no longer see ^1afalse visions or practice divination, and I will ^bdeliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will ^cknow that I am the Lord.”

Chapter 14

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

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

²And the word of the Lord 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 ^cconsulted by them at all?

⁴“Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord ¹God, “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 the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in ²the matter in view of the ^amultitude of his idols,

⁵in order to lay hold of ^1athe hearts of the house of Israel who are ^2bestranged from Me through all their idols.” ’

⁶“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “^aRepent 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 ^aimmigrants who stay 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 the Lord 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 the Lord.

⁹“But if the prophet is ¹prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the Lord, who have prevailed upon 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 ^astray from Me and no longer ^bdefile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be ^cMy people, and I shall be their God,” ’ declares the Lord God.”

The City Will Not Be Spared

¹²Then the word of the Lord 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, ¹destroy its ^bsupply 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 the Lord God.

¹⁵“If I were to cause ^awild beasts to pass through the land and they ¹depopulated it, 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 the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. ^aThey alone would be delivered, but the country would be 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 the Lord God, “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 the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when ^aI send My four ¹severe 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 conduct 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 conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done ^ain vain whatever I did ¹to it,” declares the Lord God.

Chapter 15

Jerusalem like a Useless Vine

¹Then the word of the Lord 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 anything!

⁶“Therefore, thus says the Lord ¹God, ‘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 ^aset My face against them. Though they have ^bcome out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.

⁸‘Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have ^aacted unfaithfully,’ ” declares the Lord God.

Chapter 16

God’s Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem

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

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

³and say, ‘Thus says the Lord ¹God 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 looked with 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, ²for you were abhorred on the day you were born.

⁶“When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, 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…