Ezekiel 13:17–24:27
17 “Now, son of man, set your facej against the daughtersk of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against theml 18 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? 19 You have profanedm me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread.n By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.o
20 “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds.p 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord.q 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies,r when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,s 23 therefore you will no longer see false visionst or practice divination.u I will savev my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.w’ ”
14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.x 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their heartsy and put wicked stumbling blocksz before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?a 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all desertedb me for their idols.’c
6 “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent!d Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!e
7 “ ‘When any of the Israelites or any foreignerf residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling blockg before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquireh of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. 8 I will set my face againsti them and make them an examplej and a byword.k I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.l
9 “ ‘And if the prophetm is enticedn to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.o 10 They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11 Then the people of Israel will no longer strayp from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people,q and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.r’ ”
Jerusalem’s Judgment Inescapable
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sinss against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supplyt and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals,u 14 even if these three men—Noah,v Daniela w and Jobx—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness,y declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “Or if I send wild beastsz through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts,a 16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.b
17 “Or if I bring a swordc against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals,d 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrathe on it through bloodshed,f killing its people and their animals,g 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.h
21 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgmentsi—swordj and faminek and wild beasts and plaguel—to kill its men and their animals!m 22 Yet there will be some survivorsn—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it.o They will come to you, and when you see their conductp and their actions, you will be consoledq regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. 23 You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.r”
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vines different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?t Do they make pegsu from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?v 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face againstw them. Although they have come out of the firex, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.y 8 I will make the land desolatez because they have been unfaithful,a declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Jerusalem as an Adulterous Wife
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, confrontb Jerusalem with her detestable practicesc 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestryd and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your fathere was an Amoritef and your mother a Hittite.g 4 On the day you were bornh your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
6 “ ‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”a i 7 I made you growj like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.k
8 “ ‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garmentl over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenantm with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.n
9 “ ‘I bathed you with water and washedo the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroideredp dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linenq and covered you with costly garments.r 11 I adorned you with jewelry:s I put braceletst on your arms and a necklaceu around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose,v earringsw on your ears and a beautiful crownx on your head.y 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothesz were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oila and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.b 14 And your famec spread among the nations on account of your beauty,d because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.e
15 “ ‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed byf and your beauty became his.g 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places,h where you carried on your prostitution.i You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.b 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.j 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incensek before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.l
20 “ ‘And you took your sons and daughtersm whom you bore to men and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?o 21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.p 22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth,q when you were naked and bare,r kicking about in your blood.s
23 “ ‘Woe!t Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrineu in every public square.v 25 At every street cornerw you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.x 26 You engaged in prostitutiony with the Egyptians,z your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my angera with your increasing promiscuity.b 27 So I stretched out my handc against you and reduced your territory; I gave you overd to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines,e who were shocked by your lewd …