Ezekiel 13:22–28:26

²²By your lies you have caused those who did right to be sad, when I did not make them sad. And you have encouraged the wicked not to stop being wicked, which would have saved their lives. ²³So you will not see false visions or prophesy anymore, and I will save my people from your power so you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Stop Worshiping Idols

14Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. ²Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ³“Human, these people want to worship idols. They put up evil things that cause people to sin. Should I allow them to ask me for help? ⁴So speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: When any of the people of Israel want to worship idols and put up evil things that cause people to sin and then come to the prophet, I, the Lord, will answer them myself for worshiping idols. ⁵Then I will win back my people Israel, who have left me because of all their idols.’

⁶“So say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Change your hearts and lives, and stop worshiping idols. Stop doing all the things I hate. ⁷Any of the Israelites or foreigners in Israel can separate themselves from me by wanting to worship idols or by putting up the things that cause people to sin. Then if they come to the prophet to ask me questions, I, the Lord, will answer them myself. ⁸I will reject them. I will make them a sign and an example, and I will separate them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹“ ‘But if the prophet is tricked into giving a prophecy, it is because I, the Lord, have tricked that prophet to speak. Then I will use my power against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰The prophet will be as guilty as the one who asks him for help; both will be responsible for their guilt. ¹¹Then the nation of Israel will not leave me anymore or make themselves unclean anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.’ ”

Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared

¹²The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ¹³“Human, if the people of a country sin against me by not being loyal, I will use my power against them. I will cut off their supply of food and send a time of hunger, destroying both people and animals. ¹⁴Even if three great men like Noah, Daniel, and Job were in that country, their goodness could save only themselves, says the Lord God.

¹⁵“Or I might send wild animals into that land, leaving the land empty and without children. Then no one would pass through it because of the animals. ¹⁶As surely as I live, says the Lord God, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves, but that country would become empty.

¹⁷“Or I might bring a war against that country. I might say, ‘Let a war be fought in that land,’ in this way destroying its people and its animals. ¹⁸As surely as I live, says the Lord God, even if those three men were in the land, they could not save their sons or daughters. They could save only themselves.

¹⁹“Or I might cause a disease to spread in that country. I might pour out my anger against it, destroying and killing people and animals. ²⁰As surely as I live, says the Lord God, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they could not save their son or daughter. They could save only themselves because they did what was right.

²¹“This is what the Lord God says: My plans for Jerusalem are much worse! I will send my four terrible punishments against it—war, hunger, wild animals, and disease—to destroy its people and animals. ²²But some people will escape; some sons and daughters will be led out. They will come out to you, and you will see what happens to people who live as they did. Then you will be comforted after the disasters I have brought against Jerusalem, after all the things I have brought against it. ²³You will be comforted when you see what happens to them for living as they did, because you will know there was a good reason for what I did to Jerusalem, says the Lord God.”

Story of the Vine

15The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ²“Human, is the wood of the vine better than the wood of any tree in the forest? ³Can wood be taken from the vine to make anything? Can you use it to make a peg on which to hang something? ⁴If the vine is thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire burns up both ends and starts to burn the middle, is it useful for anything? ⁵When the vine was whole, it couldn’t be made into anything. When the fire has burned it completely, it certainly cannot be made into anything.”

⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “Out of all the trees in the forest, I have given the wood of the vine as fuel for fire. In the same way I have given up the people who live in Jerusalem ⁷and will turn against them. Although they came through one fire, fire will still destroy them. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸So I will make the land empty, because the people have not been loyal, says the Lord God.”

The Lord’s Kindness to Jerusalem

16The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ²“Human, tell Jerusalem about her hateful actions. ³Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: Your beginnings and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴On the day you were born, your cord ⁿ was not cut. You were not washed with water to clean you. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ⁵No one felt sorry enough for you to do any of these things for you. No, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were hated on the day you were born.

⁶“ ‘When I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, I said to you, “Live!” ⁷I made you grow like a plant in the field. You grew up and became tall and became like a beautiful jewel. Your breasts formed, and your hair grew, but you were naked and without clothes.

⁸“ ‘Later when I passed by you and looked at you, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I spread my robe over you and covered your nakedness. I also made a promise to you and entered into an agreement with you so that you became mine, says the Lord God.

⁹“ ‘Then I bathed you with water, washed all the blood off of you, and put oil on you. ¹⁰I put beautiful clothes made with needlework on you and put sandals of fine leather on your feet. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹I put jewelry on you: bracelets on your arms, a necklace around your neck, ¹²a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³So you wore gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen, silk, and beautiful needlework. You ate fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You were very beautiful and became a queen. ¹⁴Then you became famous among the nations, because you were so beautiful. Your beauty was perfect, because of the glory I gave you, says the Lord God.

Jerusalem Becomes a Prostitute

¹⁵“ ‘But you trusted in your beauty. You became a prostitute, because you were so famous. You had sexual relations with anyone who passed by. ¹⁶You took some of your clothes and made your places of worship colorful. There you carried on your prostitution. These things should not happen; they should never occur. ¹⁷You also took your beautiful jewelry, made from my gold and silver I had given you, and you made for yourselves male idols so you could be a prostitute with them. ¹⁸Then you took your clothes with beautiful needlework and covered the idols. You gave my oil and incense as an offering to them. ¹⁹Also, you took the bread I gave you, the fine flour, oil, and honey I gave you to eat, and you offered them before the gods as a pleasing smell. This is what happened, says the Lord God.

²⁰“ ‘But your sexual sins were not enough for you. You also took your sons and daughters who were my children, and you sacrificed them to the idols as food. ²¹You killed my children and offered them up in fire to the idols. ²²While you did all your hateful acts and sexual sins, you did not remember when you were young, when you were naked and had no clothes and were left in your blood.

²³“ ‘How terrible! How terrible it will be for you, says the Lord God. After you did all these evil things, ²⁴you built yourself a place to worship gods. You made for yourself a place of worship in every city square. ²⁵You built a place of worship at the beginning of every street. You made your beauty hateful, offering your body for sex to anyone who passed by, so your sexual sins became worse and worse. ²⁶You also had sexual relations with the Egyptians, who were your neighbors and partners in sexual sin. Your sexual sins became even worse, and they caused me to be angry. ²⁷So then, I used my power against you and took away some of your land. I let you be defeated by those who hate you, the Philistine women, who were ashamed of your evil ways. ²⁸Also, you had sexual relations with the Assyrians, because you could not be satisfied. Even though you had sexual relations with them, you still were not satisfied. ²⁹You did many more sexual sins in Babylonia, the land of traders, but even this did not satisfy you.

³⁰“ ‘Truly your will is weak, says the Lord God. You do all the things a stubborn prostitute does. ³¹You built your place to worship gods at the beginning of every street, and you made places of worship in every city square. But you were not like a prostitute when you refused to accept payment.

³²“ ‘You are a wife who is guilty of adultery. You desire strangers instead of your husband. ³³Men pay prostitutes, but you pay all your lovers to come to you. And they come from all around for sexual relations. ³⁴So you are different from other prostitutes. No man asks you to be a prostitute, and you pay money instead of having money paid to you. Yes, you are different.

The Prostitute Is Judged

³⁵“ ‘So, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord. ³⁶This is what the Lord God says: You…