Ezekiel 13:22–28:26

²²“ ‘ “I had not made godly people sad. But when you told them lies, you made them lose all hope. You advised sinful people not to turn from their evil ways. You did not want them to save their lives. ²³So you will never see false visions again. You will not use your magic tricks anymore. I will save my people from your powerful hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

The Lord Judges Those Who Worship Other Gods

14Some of the elders of Israel came to see me. They sat down with me. ²Then a message came to me from the Lord. He said, ³“Son of man, these men have thought about nothing but other gods. They have fallen into the evil trap of worshiping them. Should I let those men ask me for any advice?

⁴“Speak to them. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “Suppose an Israelite thinks about other gods. And he falls into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then he goes to a prophet to ask for advice. If he does, I myself will tell the prophet to answer him in keeping with his worship of many gods. ⁵I will win back the hearts of the people of Israel. All of them have deserted me for their other gods.” ’

⁶“So speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “Turn away from your sins! Also turn away from your gods. Give up all of the evil things you have done. I hate them.

⁷“ ‘ “Suppose an Israelite or outsider who lives in Israel separates himself from me. And he thinks about other gods. He falls into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then he goes to a prophet to ask me for advice. If he does, I myself will tell the prophet to answer him. ⁸I will turn against him. I will make an example out of him. People will laugh at him. I will cut him off from you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹“ ‘ “Suppose that prophet is stirred up to give a prophecy. Then I am the one who has stirred him up. And I will reach out my powerful hand against him. I will destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰The prophet will be as much to blame as the one who asks him for advice. Both of them will be guilty. ¹¹Then the people of Israel will no longer wander away from me. And they will not pollute themselves anymore with their many sins. They will be my people. And I will be their God,” ’ announces the Lord and King.”

The Lord Punishes All Sinners

¹²A message came to me from the Lord. He said, ¹³“Son of man, suppose the people in a certain country sin against me. And they are not faithful to me. So I reach out my powerful hand against them. I cut off their food supply. I make them very hungry. I kill them and their animals. ¹⁴And suppose Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country. Then those three men could save only themselves by doing what is right,” announces the Lord and King.

¹⁵“Or suppose I send wild animals through that country. And they kill all of its children. It becomes a dry and empty desert. No one can pass through it because of the animals. ¹⁶And suppose those three men were in that country. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. But the land would become a dry and empty desert. And that is just as sure as I am alive,” announces the Lord and King.

¹⁷“Or suppose I send swords to kill the people in that country. And I say, ‘Let swords sweep all through the land.’ And I kill its people and their animals. ¹⁸And suppose those three men were in that country. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. And that is just as sure as I am alive,” announces the Lord and King.

¹⁹“Or suppose I send a plague into that land. And I pour out my burning anger on it by spilling blood. I kill its people and their animals. ²⁰And suppose Noah, Daniel and Job were in that land. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves by doing what is right. And that is just as sure as I am alive,” announces the Lord and King.

²¹The Lord and King says, “It will get much worse. I will punish Jerusalem in four horrible ways. There will be war, hunger, wild animals and plague. They will destroy the people and their animals.

²²“But some people will be left alive. Some children will be brought out of the city. They will come to you. You will see how they act and the way they live. And you will be comforted in spite of all of the trouble I brought on Jerusalem. ²³You will be comforted when you see how they act and the way they live. Then you will know that I did not do anything there without a reason,” announces the Lord and King.

Jerusalem Is Like a Useless Vine

15A message came to me from the Lord. He said, ²“Son of man, is the wood of a vine better than the wood of any of the trees in the forest? ³Can its wood ever be made into anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on?

⁴“Suppose it is thrown in the fire to be burned. And the fire burns both ends and blackens the middle. Then is it useful for anything? ⁵It was not useful when it was whole. So how can it be made into something useful now? The fire has burned it and blackened it.”

⁶The Lord and King says, “Instead of the wood of any tree in the forest, I have given the vine to burn in the fire. I will treat the people who live in Jerusalem the same way. ⁷I will turn against them. They might have come out of the fire. But the fire will destroy them anyway. I will turn against them. Then they will know that I am the Lord. ⁸I will make the land a dry and empty desert. My people have not been faithful to me,” announces the Lord and King.

A Story That Pictures Unfaithful Jerusalem

16A message came to me from the Lord. He said, ²“Son of man, tell the people of Jerusalem the evil things they have done. I hate those things.

³“Tell them, ‘The Lord and King speaks to Jerusalem. He says, “Your history in the land of Canaan goes back a long way. Your father was an Amorite. Your mother was a Hittite. ⁴On the day you were born your cord was not cut. You were not washed with water to clean you up. You were not rubbed with salt. And you were not wrapped in large strips of cloth. ⁵No one took pity on you. No one was concerned enough to do any of those things for you. Instead, you were thrown out into an open field. You were hated on the day you were born.

⁶“ ‘ “I was passing by. I saw you kicking around in your blood. As you were lying there, I said to you, ‘Live!’ ⁷I made you grow like a plant in a field. Soon you had grown up. You became the most beautiful jewel of all. Your breasts had formed. Your hair had grown. But you were naked and bare.

⁸“ ‘ “Later, I was passing by again. I looked at you. I saw that you were old enough for love. So I got married to you and took good care of you. I covered your naked body. I took an oath and made a firm promise to you. I entered into a covenant with you. And you became mine,” announces the Lord and King.

⁹“ ‘ “I bathed you with water. I washed the blood off you. And I put lotions on you. ¹⁰I put a beautiful dress on you. I gave you leather sandals. I dressed you in fine linen. I covered you with expensive clothes. ¹¹I decorated you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your arms. I gave you a necklace for your neck. ¹²I put rings on your nose and ears. And I gave you a beautiful crown for your head.

¹³“ ‘ “So you were decorated with gold and silver. Your clothes were made out of fine linen. They were made of expensive and beautiful cloth. Your food was made out of fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful. You became a queen. ¹⁴You were so beautiful that your fame spread among the nations. The glory I had given you made your beauty perfect,” announces the Lord and King.

¹⁵“ ‘ “But you trusted in your beauty. You used your fame to become a prostitute. You offered your body freely to anyone who passed by. In fact, you gave yourself to anyone who wanted you. ¹⁶You used some of your clothes to make high places colorful. That is where people worshiped other gods. You were a prostitute there. Things like that should never happen. They should never take place.

¹⁷“ ‘ “I had given you fine jewelry. It was made out of gold and silver. You used it to make for yourself statues of male gods. You worshiped those gods. You were not faithful to me. ¹⁸You put your beautiful clothes on them. You offered my oil and incense to them. ¹⁹You also offered them the food that was made out of fine flour, olive oil and honey. I had given it to you to eat. You offered it as sweet-smelling incense to them. That is what you did,” announces the Lord and King.

²⁰“ ‘ “Then you got your sons and daughters who belonged to me. And you sacrificed them as food to other gods. Wasn’t it enough for you to be a prostitute? ²¹You killed my children. You sacrificed them to other gods.

²²“ ‘ “You did not remember the days when you were young. At that time you were naked and bare. You were kicking around in your blood. But now you have done evil things. I hate them. You have worshiped other gods. You have not been faithful to me.

²³“ ‘ “How terrible it will be for you!” announces the Lord and King. “How terrible for you! You continued to sin against me. ²⁴Your people built up mounds for themselves in every market place. They put little places of worship on them. ²⁵They set them up at every street corner. Jerusalem, you misused your beauty. You offered your body to anyone who passed by. You did it again and again.

²⁶“ ‘ “You committed shameful acts with the people of Egypt. They were your neighbors, and they were filled with longing for their lovers. You offered yourself to others again and again. That made me very angry. ²⁷So I reached out my powerful hand against you. I made your territory smaller. I handed you over to your Philistine enemies. The people in their towns were shocked by your impure conduct.

²⁸“ ‘ “You also committed shameful acts with the people of Assyria. Nothing ever seemed to satisfy you. You could never get enough. ²⁹Then you offered yourself to the people of Babylonia. But that did not satisfy you either. There are many traders in the land of…