Ezekiel 13:22–28:26

²²Because of paining the heart of the righteous with falsehood, And I have not pained it, And strengthening the hands of the wicked, So as not to turn back from his evil way, To keep him alive, ²³Therefore, vanity ye do not see, And divination ye do not divine again, And I have delivered My people out of your hand, And ye have known that I am Jehovah!’

Chapter 14

¹And come in unto me do certain of the elders of Israel, and sit before me. ²And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ³‘Son of man, these men have caused their idols to go up on their heart, and the stumbling-block of their iniquity they have put over-against their faces; am I inquired of at all by them?

⁴‘Therefore, speak with them, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Every one of the house of Israel who causeth his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath gone in unto the prophet—I Jehovah have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols, ⁵in order to catch the house of Israel by their heart, in that they have become estranged from off me by their idols—all of them.

⁶‘Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn ye back, yea, turn ye back from your idols, and from all your abominations turn back your faces, ⁷for every one of the house of Israel, and of the sojourners who doth sojourn in Israel, who is separated from after Me, and doth cause his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath come in unto the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, have answered him for Myself; ⁸and I have set My face against that man, and made him for a sign, and for similes, and I have cut him off from the midst of My people, and ye have known that I am Jehovah.

⁹‘And the prophet, when he is enticed, and hath spoken a word—I, Jehovah, I have enticed that prophet, and have stretched out My hand against him, and have destroyed him from the midst of My people Israel. ¹⁰And they have borne their iniquity: as the iniquity of the inquirer, so is the iniquity of the prophet; ¹¹so that the house of Israel do not wander any more from after Me, nor are defiled any more with all their transgressions, and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.’

¹²And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ¹³‘Son of man, the land—when it sinneth against Me to commit a trespass, and I have stretched out My hand against it, and broken for it the staff of bread, and sent into it famine, and cut off from it man and beast— ¹⁴and these three men have been in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job—they by their righteousness deliver their own soul—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵‘If an evil beast I cause to pass through the land, and it hath bereaved, and it hath been a desolation, without any passing through because of the beast— ¹⁶these three men in its midst: I live—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah—neither sons nor daughters do they deliver; they alone are delivered, and the land is a desolation.

¹⁷‘Or—a sword I bring in against that land, and I have said: Sword, thou dost pass over through the land, and I have cut off from it man and beast— ¹⁸and these three men in its midst: I live—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah—they deliver not sons and daughters, for they alone are delivered.

¹⁹‘Or—pestilence I send unto that land, and I have poured out My fury against it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast— ²⁰and Noah, Daniel, and Job, in its midst: I live—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah—neither son nor daughter do they deliver; they, by their righteousness, deliver their own soul.

²¹‘For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Although My four sore judgments—sword, and famine, and wild beast, and pestilence—I have sent unto Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast, ²²yet, lo, there hath been left in it an escape, who are brought forth, sons and daughters, lo, they are coming forth unto you, and ye have seen their way, and their doings, and have been comforted concerning the evil that I have brought in against Jerusalem, all that which I have brought in against it. ²³And they have comforted you, for ye see their way and their doings, and ye have known that not for nought have I done all that which I have done in her—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.’

Chapter 15

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: ²‘Son of man, What is the vine-tree more than any tree? The vine-branch that hath been, Among trees of the forest? ³Is wood taken from it to use for work? Do they take of it a pin to hang any vessel on it? ⁴Lo, to the fire it hath been given for fuel, Its two ends hath the fire eaten, And its midst hath been scorched! Is it profitable for work? ⁵Lo, in its being perfect it is not used for work, How much less, when fire hath eaten of it, And it is scorched, Hath it been used yet for work? ⁶Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among trees of the forest, That I have given to the fire for fuel, So I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷And I have set My face against them, From the fire they have gone forth, And the fire doth consume them, And ye have known that I am Jehovah, In My setting My face against them. ⁸And I have made the land a desolation, Because they have committed a trespass, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!’

Chapter 16

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ²‘Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and thou hast said: ³Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity Are of the land of the Canaanite, Thy father the Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. ⁴As to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, Thou—thy navel hath not been cut, And in water thou wast not washed for ease, And thou hast not been salted at all, And thou hast not been swaddled at all. ⁵No eye hath had pity on thee, to do to thee any of these, To have compassion on thee, And thou art cast on the face of the field, With loathing of thy person. In the day thou hast been born—thou!

⁶And I do pass over by thee, And I see thee trodden down in thy blood, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live. ⁷A myriad—as the shoot of the field I have made thee, And thou art multiplied, and art great, And comest in with an excellent adornment, Breasts have been formed, and thy hair hath grown—And thou, naked and bare! ⁸And I pass over by thee, and I see thee, And lo, thy time is a time of loves, And I spread My skirt over thee, And I cover thy nakedness, And I swear to thee, and come in to a covenant with thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And thou dost become Mine. ⁹And I do wash thee with water, And I wash away thy blood from off thee, And I anoint thee with perfume. ¹⁰And I clothe thee with embroidery, And I shoe thee with badger’s skin, And I gird thee with fine linen, And I cover thee with figured silk. ¹¹And I adorn thee with adornments, And I give bracelets for thy hands, And a chain for thy neck. ¹²And I give a ring for thy nose, And rings for thine ears, And a crown of beauty on thy head. ¹³And thou dost put on gold and silver, And thy clothing is fine linen, And figured silk and embroidery, Fine flour, and honey, and oil thou hast eaten, And thou art very very beautiful, And dost go prosperously to the kingdom. ¹⁴And go forth doth thy name among nations, Because of thy beauty—for it is complete, In My honour that I have set upon thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵And thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer by—to him it is. ¹⁶And thou dost take of thy garments, And dost make to thee spotted high-places, And dost go a-whoring upon them, They are not coming in—nor shall it be! ¹⁷And thou dost take thy beauteous vessels Of My gold and My silver that I gave to thee, And dost make to thee images of a male, And dost go a-whoring with them, ¹⁸And dost take the garments of thy embroidery, And thou dost cover them, And My oil and My perfume thou hast set before them. ¹⁹And My bread, that I gave to thee, Fine flour, and oil, and honey, that I caused thee to eat. Thou hast even set it before them, For a sweet fragrance—thus it is, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. ²⁰And thou dost take thy sons and thy daughters Whom thou hast born to Me, And dost sacrifice them to them for food. Is it a little thing because of thy whoredoms, ²¹That thou dost slaughter My sons, And dost give them up in causing them to pass over to them? ²²And with all thine abominations and thy whoredoms, Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, When thou wast naked and bare, Trodden down in thy blood thou wast! ²³And it cometh to pass, after all thy wickedness, (Woe, woe, to thee—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah), ²⁴That thou dost build to thee an arch, And dost make to thee a high place in every broad place. ²⁵At every head of the way thou hast built thy high place, And thou dost make thy beauty abominable, And dost open wide thy feet to every passer by, And dost multiply thy whoredoms, ²⁶And dost go a-whoring unto sons of Egypt, Thy neighbours—great of appetite! And thou dost multiply thy whoredoms, To provoke Me to anger. ²⁷And lo, I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I diminish thy portion, And give thee to the desire of those hating thee, The daughters of the Philistines, Who are ashamed of thy wicked way. ²⁸And thou goest a-whoring unto sons of Asshur, Without thy being satisfied, And thou dost go a-whoring with them, And also—thou hast not been satisfied. ²⁹And thou dost multiply thy whoredoms On the land of Canaan—toward Chaldea, And even with this thou hast not been satisfied. ³⁰How weak is thy heart, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, In thy doing all these, The work of a domineering whorish woman. ³¹In thy building thine arch at the head of every way, Thy high place thou hast made…