Idolatry Will Be Punished

14 Now asome of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them bthat which causes them to stumble into iniquity. cShould I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

4 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’

6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and dturn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. 8 eI will set My face against that man and make him a fsign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. gThen you shall know that I am the Lord.

9 “And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord hhave induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, 11 that the house of Israel may ino longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, jbut that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord God.’ ”

Judgment on Persistent Unfaithfulness

12 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its ksupply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. 14 lEven if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves mby their righteousness,” says the Lord God.

15 “If I cause nwild beasts to pass through the land, and they 1empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even othough these three men were 2in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be pdesolate.

17 “Or if qI bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I rcut off man and beast from it, 18 even sthough these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.

19 “Or if I send ta pestilence into that land and upour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, 20 even vthough Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

21 For thus says the Lord God: “How much more it shall be when wI send My four 3severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? 22 xYet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be ybrought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and zyou will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing awithout cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord God.

The Outcast Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? 4 Instead, ait is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? 5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 and bI will set My face against them. cThey will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. dThen you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. 8 Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord God.”

God’s Love for Jerusalem

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, acause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: “Your 1birth band your nativity are from the land of Canaan; cyour father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your nativity, don the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were 2loathed on the day you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 eI made you 3thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

8 “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; fso I spread 4My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I gswore an oath to you and entered into a hcovenant with you, and iyou became Mine,” says the Lord God.

9 “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of 5badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with ornaments, jput bracelets on your wrists, kand a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a 6jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. lYou ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly mbeautiful, and succeeded to royalty. 14 nYour fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.

Jerusalem’s Harlotry

15 o“But you trusted in your own beauty, pplayed the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. 16 qYou took some of your garments and adorned multicolored 7high places for yourself, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be. 17 You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them. 18 You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them. 19 Also rMy food which I gave you—the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you—you set it before them as 8sweet incense; and so it was,” says the Lord God.

20 s“Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, 21 that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the tfire? 22 And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your uyouth, vwhen you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.

23 “Then it was so, after all your wickedness—‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God—24 that wyou also built for yourself a shrine, and xmade a 9high place for yourself in every street. 25 You built your high places yat the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. 26 You also committed harlotry with zthe Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to aprovoke Me to anger.

27 “Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your 1allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, bthe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 You also played the harlot with the cAssyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. 29 Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, dChaldea; and even then you were not satisfied.

30 “How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.

Jerusalem’s Adultery

31 e“You erected your shrine at the head of every road, and built your 2high place in every street. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned fpayment. 32 You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. 33 Men make payment to all harlots, but gyou made your payments to all your lovers, and 3hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry. 34 You are the opposite of other women in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a harlot. In that you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite.”

Jerusalem’s Lovers Will Abuse Her

35 ‘Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord! 36 Thus says the …