Bible in 90 Days

²¹ ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²² Son of man, what is that saying that ye have in the land of Israel that saith, The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail?

²³ Tell them therefore, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: I will make this saying to cease, and they shall not repeat this as a saying in Israel but say unto them, Those days have drawn nigh, and the fulfillment of every vision.

²⁴ For there shall no longer be any vain vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

²⁵ Because I, the LORD, will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall no longer be prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and will perform it, said the Lord GOD.

²⁶ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁷ Son of man, behold, those of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.

²⁸ Therefore say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: All of my words shall not be prolonged any longer, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, said the Lord GOD.

13 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy and say unto those that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD:

³ thus hath the Lord GOD said: Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

⁴ O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

⁵ Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

⁶ They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD has not sent them, and they have made others to wait for the word to be confirmed.

⁷ Have ye not seen a vain vision and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD hath said it; albeit I have not spoken?

⁸ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies; therefore, behold, I am against you, said the Lord GOD.

⁹ And my hand shall be against the prophets that see vanity and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the book of the house of Israel, neither shall they return to the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

¹⁰ ¶ Therefore and because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up the wall, and, behold, others plastered it with loose mud:

¹¹ say unto those who plaster it with loose mud, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing rain; and I shall send great hailstones that will cause it to fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.

¹² And behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the mud with which ye have plastered it?

¹³ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: I will cause a stormy wind to rend it in my fury; and there shall come an overflowing rain in my anger and great hailstones in my wrath to consume it.

¹⁴ So I will break down the wall that ye have plastered with loose mud and bring it down to the ground, and its foundation shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

¹⁵ Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall and upon those that have plastered it with loose mud and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither those that plastered it;

¹⁶ to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, said the Lord GOD.

¹⁷ ¶ Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy thou against them,

¹⁸ And say, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Must ye hunt the souls of my people to maintain thus your own life?

¹⁹ And will ye profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, slaying the souls that should not die and giving life to the souls that should not live, by your lying to my people that listen to the lie?

²⁰ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said; Behold, I am against your pillows, with which ye hunt there the loose souls, and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go, even the loose souls that ye hunt.

²¹ Your kerchiefs also I will tear and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

²² Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and ye strengthen the hands of the wicked that he should not leave his wicked way, encouraging him:

²³ therefore ye shall not see vanity, nor divine divinations any longer: for I will deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

14 ¶ Then certain of the elders of Israel came unto me and sat before me.

² And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

³ Son of man, these men have caused their uncleanness to come up over their heart and have established the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

⁴ Therefore speak unto them and say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Every man of the house of Israel that sets up his idols in his heart and has established the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face and comes to the prophet, I, the LORD, will answer him that comes like this in the multitude of his idols

⁵ that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

⁶ Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Repent and cause them to repent from your idols and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷ For any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel who has separated himself from walking after me and has set up his idols in his heart and has established the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face and comes to the prophet to enquire of him concerning me, I, the LORD, will answer him by myself:

⁸ and I will set my face against that man and will set him up for a sign and for sayings, and I will cut him off from among my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

⁹ And the prophet when he is deceived and speaks a word, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him and will destroy him from among my people Israel.

¹⁰ And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity; the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him that seeks unto him

¹¹ that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me, neither be polluted any longer in all their rebellions but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, said the Lord GOD.

¹² ¶ The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:

¹³ Son of man, when the land sins against me by rebelling blatantly and I stretch out my hand upon her and break the staff of the bread thereof and send famine upon her and cut off man and beast out of her

¹⁴ though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of her, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, said the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ If I cause an evil beast to pass through the land and destroy her so that it be desolate that there be no one to pass through because of the beast

¹⁶ though these three men were in the midst of her, as I live, said the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither their sons nor their daughters; they only shall be delivered, and the land shall be destroyed.

¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon the land and say: Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast out of her;

¹⁸ though these three men were in the midst of her, as I live, said the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither their sons nor their daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my fury upon her in blood to cut off out of her man and beast

²⁰ though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of her, as I live, said the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: How much more if I send my four sore judgments against Jerusalem: the sword, the famine, the evil beast, the pestilence, to cut off out of her man and beast?

²² Yet, behold, there shall be left a remnant in her, of whom shall be taken captive your sons and daughters; they shall be taken away: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon her.

²³ And they shall comfort you when ye see their ways and their doings and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in her, said the Lord GOD.

15 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

² Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree? What is the branch among the trees of the forest?

³ Shall wood be taken from it to do a work? Will men take a peg from it to hang any vessel thereon?

⁴ Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?

⁵ Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work; how much less afterward shall it be meet for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

⁶ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I have given over the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁷ And I will set my face against them; they came out of one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD when I set my face against them.

⁸ And I will make the land desolate because they have completely rebelled, said the Lord GOD.

16 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, notify Jerusalem of her abominations

³ and say, Thus hath the Lord GOD said concerning Jerusalem: Thy habitation and thy race was of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite.

⁴ And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

⁵ No eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have mercy upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field with little value given to thy life, in the day that thou wast born.

⁶ ¶ I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, and I said unto thee, In thy blood thou shalt live; yea, I said unto thee, In thy blood thou shalt live.

⁷ In ten thousands, as the grass of the field, have I placed thee, and thou wast increased and made great, and thou art come to be adorned with excellent ornaments; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair is grown; but thou wast naked and bare.

⁸ And I passed by thee and looked upon thee; behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my mantle over thee and covered thy shame; and I gave thee an oath and entered into a covenant with thee, said the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine;

⁹ and I washed thee with water and washed away thy blood from upon thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

¹⁰ I clothed thee also with broidered work and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I clothed thee with silk.

¹¹ I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy arms and a chain on thy neck.

¹² And I put nose rings upon thy nostrils and earrings in thine ears and a diadem of beauty upon thine head.

¹³ Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour of wheat and honey and oil: and thou wast made exceeding beautiful, and thou hast prospered even until thou hast reigned.

¹⁴ And thy renown went forth among the Gentiles for thy beauty; for it was perfect because of my beauty which I placed upon thee, said the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ ¶ But thou didst trust in thine own beauty and didst play the harlot because of thy renown and didst pour out thy fornications on every one that passed by; thou wert his.

¹⁶ And of thy garments thou didst take and make altars of divers colours and play the harlot thereupon; the like shall not come again, neither shall it be so.

¹⁷ Thou hast taken likewise the vessels of thy beauty of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee and made to thyself images of men and didst commit whoredom with them

¹⁸ And thou didst take thy garments of many colours and cover them; and thou hast set my oil and my incense before them.

¹⁹ My bread also which I had given thee; the fine flour and the oil and the honey with which I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour; and thus it was, said the Lord GOD.

²⁰ Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these thou hast sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

²¹ that thou hast sacrificed my children and given them over to them that they might cause them to pass through the fire unto them?

²² And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms hast thou not remembered the days of thy youth when thou wast naked and bare? Thou wast polluted in thy blood.

²³ And it came to pass after all thy wickedness (woe, woe unto thee! said the Lord GOD)

²⁴ that thou hast also built unto thee a high place and hast made thee an altar in every street.

²⁵ Thou hast built thy altar at every head of every way and hast made thy beauty abominable and hast opened thy thighs to every one that passed by and multiplied thy whoredoms.

²⁶ Thou hast also committed fornication with the sons of Egypt, thy neighbours, great of flesh, and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

²⁷ Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee and have diminished thy liberty and delivered thee unto the will of those that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way.

²⁸ Thou hast played the whore also with the sons of Assyria because thou wast insatiable; thou hast played the harlot with them and yet could not be satisfied.

²⁹ Thou hast likewise multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan and of the Chaldeans, and yet thou wast not satisfied with this.

³⁰ How inconsistent is thy heart, said the Lord GOD, having done all these things, the work of a powerful harlot:

³¹ building thine altars at the head of every way and making thine altars in every street! And thou hast not been as a harlot in that thou scornest hire,

³² but as a wife that commits adultery, who takes strangers instead of her husband!

³³ They give gifts to all whores, but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers and givest them offerings that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

³⁴ And in thee it is to the contrary from other women in thy whoredoms; and after thee, there shall never be whoredom like unto thine because in giving thy gifts when gifts are not given unto thee, it has been backwards.

³⁵ ¶ Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

³⁶ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because thy nakedness has been uncovered, and thy confusion has been manifested to thy lovers in thy whoredoms and to the idols of thy abominations and in the blood of thy children which thou didst give unto them;

³⁷ therefore, behold that I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure and all those that thou hast loved, with all those that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

³⁸ And I will judge thee by the laws regarding women who commit adultery and those that shed blood; and I will give thee away in blood of fury and of jealousy.

³⁹ And I will deliver thee into their hand, and they shall destroy thy high place and shall break down thy altars; they shall strip thee also of thy clothes and shall take the vessels of thy glory and shall leave thee naked and bare.

⁴⁰ They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with their swords.

⁴¹ And they shall burn thine houses with fire and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

⁴² So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet and will no longer be angry.

⁴³ Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth but hast provoked me to anger in all this; therefore, behold I also have recompensed thy way upon thine head, said the Lord GOD; for thou hast not even thought regarding all thine abominations.

⁴⁴ ¶ Behold, every one that makes proverbs shall make this proverb regarding thee, saying: As is the mother so is her daughter.

⁴⁵ Thou art thy mother’s daughter that discarded her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters who discarded their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶ And thine elder sister is Samaria with her daughters that dwell at thy left hand; and thy younger sister that dwells at thy right hand is Sodom with her daughters.

⁴⁷ Yet thou hast not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

⁴⁸ As I live, said the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister has never done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

⁴⁹ Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the afflicted and needy.

⁵⁰ And they filled themselves with arrogance and committed abomination before me, and when I saw it, I took them away.

⁵¹ Neither has Samaria committed half of thy sins, but thou hast multiplied thy abominations more than they and hast justified thy sisters with all thy abominations which thou hast done.

⁵² Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they; they are more righteous than thou; be thou confounded also and bear thy shame in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

⁵³ When I shall turn their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then I will release the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

⁵⁴ that thou may bear thine own shame and may be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

⁵⁵ When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their first state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their first state, thou and thy daughters shall return to your first state.

⁵⁶ Sodom, thy sister was not mentioned by thy mouth in the time of thy pride,

⁵⁷ before thy wickedness discovered itself, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria and of all the daughters of the Philistines round about, who despise thee in everything.

⁵⁸ Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, said the LORD.

⁵⁹ For thus hath the Lord GOD said: Will I deal with thee even as thou hast done, despising the oath to invalidate the covenant?

⁶⁰ ¶ Nevertheless I will remember my covenant that I made with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will confirm unto thee an everlasting covenant.

⁶¹ Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

⁶² And I will confirm my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:

⁶³ that thou may remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, said the Lord GOD.

17 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, propose a figure and compose an enigma unto the house of Israel

³ and say: Thus hath the Lord GOD said, A great eagle with great wings and long members, full of feathers of diverse colours, came unto Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar:

⁴ he cropped off the principal shoot and carried it into a land of markets; he set it in the city of the merchants.

⁵ He also took of the seed of the land and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters and set it as a willow tree.

⁶ And it grew and became a vine of many branches, low of stature, whose branches looked at him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine and brought forth branches and shot forth sprigs.

⁷ There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and, behold, this vine joined her roots toward him and extended her branches toward him that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

⁸ It was planted in a good soil by many waters that it might bring forth branches and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

⁹ Say thou: Thus hath the Lord GOD said, Shall it be prospered? Shall he not pull it up its roots and destroy its fruit and let it wither? All of the leaves of her spring shall wither, even without great power or many people plucking it up by its roots.

¹⁰ Yea, behold, being planted, shall it be prospered? Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

¹¹ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹² Say now to the rebellious house: Do ye not know what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem and has taken its king and its princes and led them with him to Babylon;

¹³ and has taken of the seed of the kingdom and made a covenant with him and has brought him to an oath: he has also taken the mighty of the land:

¹⁴ that the kingdom might be cast down, that it might not lift itself up, but that it might keep his covenant and stay in her.

¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors unto Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he be prospered, shall he that does such things escape? And shall he who broke the covenant be able to flee?

¹⁶ As I live, said the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells that made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon, he shall die.

¹⁷ And not with a mighty army, nor with a great company shall Pharaoh do anything for him in the battle when they cast up mounts, and build forts to cut off many lives:

¹⁸ seeing he despised the oath to invalidate the covenant when, behold, he had given his hand and has done all these things, he shall not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised and my covenant that he has broken, even it will I turn upon his own head.

²⁰ And I will spread my net upon him and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass with which he has rebelled against me.

²¹ And all his fugitives with all his armies shall fall by the sword, and those that remain shall be scattered toward all winds; and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.

²² ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: I will also take of the highest branch of that high cedar and will set it up; I will crop off from the principal branch a shoot and will plant it upon the high and sublime mountain:

²³ in the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a magnificent cedar; and under it shall dwell every fowl; everything that flies shall dwell in the shadow of its branches.

²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

18 ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

² What mean ye, that ye use this saying concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?

³ As I live, said the Lord GOD, ye shall never again have reason to use this saying in Israel.

⁴ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins, it shall die.

⁵ But if a man is just and does judgment and righteousness,

⁶ that he does not eat upon the mountains, neither lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither defile his neighbour’s wife, neither come near to the menstruous woman,

⁷ neither oppress any, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment,

⁸ neither lends at interest, neither takes any increase, withdraws his hand from iniquity, executes true judgment between man and man,

⁹ walks in my statutes, and keeps my rights, to do according to the truth: he is just; he shall surely live, said the Lord GOD.

¹⁰ ¶ If he begets a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that does the like of any one of these things,

¹¹ and that does not do any of those duties, but, on the other hand, he does eat upon the mountains, or defiles his neighbour’s wife,

¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, or lifts up his eyes to the idols, or makes an abomination,

¹³ gives forth upon usury and takes increase, shall he then live? He shall not live; he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

¹⁴ But if he begets a son that sees all his father’s sins which he has done and seeing them, does not do according to them,

¹⁵ that he does not eat upon the mountains, neither lifts up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiles his neighbour’s wife,

¹⁶ neither oppresses any, nor withholds the pledge, neither commits robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment,

¹⁷ takes off his hand from oppressing the poor, does not receive usury nor increase, acts according to my rights, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live.

¹⁸ As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, even he shall die for his iniquity.

¹⁹ Yet if ye say, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? Because the son has lived according to judgment and righteousness and has kept all my statutes and has done them, he shall surely live.

²⁰ The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him who is righteous, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him who is wicked.

²¹ ¶ But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed and keep all my statutes and live according to judgment and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

²² All his rebellions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him; by his righteousness that he has done he shall live.

²³ Do I desire perchance the death of the wicked? said the Lord GOD, Shall he not live if he should leave his ways?

²⁴ But if the righteous should leave his righteousness and commit iniquity, and do according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned; by his rebellion in which he has trespassed and by his sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

²⁵ And if ye say, The way of the Lord is not straight. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not straight? Are not your ways crooked?

²⁶ When a righteous man leaves his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die in it; for his iniquity that he has done he shall die.

²⁷ Again, when the wicked man leaves his wickedness that he has committed and lives according to judgment and righteousness, he shall cause his soul to live.

²⁸ Because he saw and left all his rebellions that he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

²⁹ If even now the house of Israel should say, The way of the Lord is not straight. O house of Israel, are not my ways straight? Certainly your ways are not straight.

³⁰ ¶ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one according to his ways, said the Lord GOD. Repent and turn yourselves from all your iniquities, so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

³¹ Cast away from you all your iniquities by which ye have rebelled, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

³² For I do not desire the death of him that dies, said the Lord GOD; therefore turn yourselves, and ye shall live.

19 ¶ And take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

² and thou shalt say, How hast thy mother, the lioness, lain down among the lions? She raised her whelps among the young lions.

³ And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey and to devour men.

⁴ The Gentiles also heard of him; he was taken in their trap, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

⁵ Now when she saw that she had waited a long time and her hope was being lost, then she took another of her whelps and made him a young lion.

⁶ And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion and learned to catch the prey and devoured men.

⁷ And he knew their widows, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the voice of his roaring.

⁸ Then the Gentiles set against him on every side from the provinces and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

⁹ And they put him in prison in chains and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into fortresses that his voice should no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ ¶ Thy mother was like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters, bearing fruit and spreading forth branches by reason of the many waters.

¹¹ And she had strong rods for the sceptres of those that bore rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height and with the multitude of her branches.

¹² But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her branches were broken, and she withered; fire consumed the rod of her strength.

¹³ And now she is planted in the wilderness in a dry and thirsty ground.

¹⁴ And fire is gone out of the rod from her branches, which has devoured her fruit, so that no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule has remained in her. This is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation.

20 ¶ And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD and sat before me.

² Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,

³ Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel and say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, said the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

⁴ Dost thou desire to judge them? Dost thou desire to judge them, son of man? Notify them of the abominations of their fathers:

⁵ ¶ And say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; In the day when I chose Israel and lifted up my hand for the seed of the house of Jacob and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt when I lifted up my hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;

⁶ in the day that I lifted up my hand unto them with an oath that I would bring them forth from the land of Egypt into a land that I had prepared for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the most beautiful of all lands,

⁷ then said I unto them, Cast away each one of you all worship of god fabricated by carnal appearance and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

⁸ But they rebelled against me and did not desire to hearken unto me; each one did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt; then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹ With all this, I intervened for my name’s sake that it should not be polluted before the Gentiles, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ ¶ Therefore I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness;

¹¹ and I gave them my statutes and declared unto them my rights, by which the man that does them shall live by them.

¹² And I also gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctifies them.

¹³ But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they did not walk in my statutes, and they despised my rights, by which the man that does them shall live by them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted; therefore I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them.

¹⁴ But I intervened for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the Gentiles, in whose sight I brought them out.

¹⁵ Yet I also lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, with an oath that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the most beautiful of all lands,

¹⁶ because they despised my rights and did not walk in my statutes but polluted my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols.

¹⁷ With all this, my eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ But I said unto their sons in the wilderness: Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither keep their laws, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

¹⁹ I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my rights, and do them;

²⁰ and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

²¹ Notwithstanding, the sons rebelled against me: they did not walk in my statutes, nor keep my rights to do them, by which the man that does them shall live by them; they polluted my Sabbaths; then I said: I would pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

²² Nevertheless, I withdrew my hand and intervened for my name’s sake that it should not be polluted in the sight of the Gentiles in whose sight I brought them forth.

²³ I lifted up my hand unto them also in the wilderness with an oath that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them through the countries

²⁴ because they had not executed my rights and had despised my statutes and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

²⁵ For this reason I also gave them statutes that were not good and rights by which they could not live,

²⁶ and I polluted them in their offerings when they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

²⁷ ¶ Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel and say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Even in this your fathers have blasphemed me when they committed rebellion against me.

²⁸ For when I had brought them into the land, for which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offerings; there also they made their sweet savour and poured out there their drink offerings.

²⁹ Then I said unto them, What is the high place unto which ye go? And its name is called Bamah unto this day.

³⁰ Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Perchance are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and do ye commit whoredom after their abominations?

³¹ For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day; and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, said the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

³² And that which ye think shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the Gentiles, as the families of the nations to serve wood and stone.

³³ ¶ As I live, said the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and with fury poured out, I must rule over you:

³⁴ and I will bring you out from among the peoples and will gather you out of the countries in which ye are scattered with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and with fury poured out.

³⁵ And I will bring you into the wilderness of peoples, and there I will litigate with you face to face.

³⁶ Like as I litigated with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will litigate with you, said the Lord GOD.

³⁷ And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:

³⁸ and I will purge out from among you the rebels and those that rebelled against me; I will take them out of the country where they have gone, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

³⁹ As for you, O house of Israel, thus hath the Lord GOD said: Go, serve ye each one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me, but do not pollute my holy name any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

⁴⁰ For in the mountain of my holiness, in the high mountain of Israel, said the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel serve me, all of them in the land; there will I be pleased with them, and there will I require your offerings and the firstfruits of your gifts with all your sacred things.

⁴¹ I will accept you with your sweet savour when I have brought you out from among the peoples and gathered you out of the countries in which ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the eyes of the Gentiles.

⁴² And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the land for which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.

⁴³ And there ye shall remember your ways and all your doings, in which ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

⁴⁴ And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have intervened with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, said the Lord GOD.

⁴⁵ ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁴⁶ Son of man, set thy face toward the south and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;

⁴⁷ and thou shalt say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I kindle a fire in thee, which shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree; the flame of the fire shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

⁴⁸ And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.

⁴⁹ Then I said, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Does he not speak parables?

21 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

² Son of man, set thy face against Jerusalem, and drop my word upon the sanctuaries, and prophesy over the land of Israel,

³ and thou shalt say to the land of Israel, Thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵ that all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.

⁶ Cry out therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness cry out before their eyes.

⁷ And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Why criest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings that come; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint; and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes and shall be brought to pass, said the Lord GOD.

⁸ ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁹ Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus hath the LORD said: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

¹⁰ it is sharpened to slay victims; it is furbished that it may glitter; should we then make mirth? it despises the rod of my son, as every tree.

¹¹ And he has given it to be furbished, that it may be handled; this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

¹² Cry and howl, son of man, for it shall be upon my people; it shall be upon all the princes of Israel; fear of the sword shall be upon my people; therefore smite the thigh

¹³ because it shall be a trial. What shall be if it does not despise the rod? said the Lord GOD.

¹⁴ Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain; this is the sword of great slaughter that shall pierce them.

¹⁵ I have set the fear of the sword in all their gates, that their heart may faint and their ruins be multiplied; ah! it is made so that it might shine; it is prepared for the slaughter.

¹⁶ Go one way or other, either on the right hand or on the left, wherever thy face is set.

¹⁷ I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest; I the LORD have spoken.

¹⁸ ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

¹⁹ Also, thou son of man, show two ways from where the sword of the king of Babylon comes: both shall come forth out of the same land and draw an army; at the head of the way to the city thou shalt do this.

²⁰ Show the way that the sword will come to Rabbath of the Ammonites and to Judah against Jerusalem, the defenced.

²¹ For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way at the head of the two ways to use divination; he made his arrows bright; he consulted with images; he looked in the liver.

²² The divination was to his right hand upon Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

²³ And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to those that have sworn oaths; but he will call to remembrance the iniquity that they may be taken.

²⁴ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, manifesting your betrayals and uncovering your sins in all your doings; for which ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵ And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come in the time when the iniquity shall be brought to an end,

²⁶ thus hath the Lord GOD said: Remove the diadem and take off the crown; it shall no longer be like this; I will exalt the one that is low and abase the one that is high.

²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it, and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it unto him.

²⁸ ¶ And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn for the slaughter; it is furbished to consume with brightness:

²⁹ They prophesy vanity unto thee; they divine a lie unto thee, to give thee over among the necks of the wicked who are sentenced to death, whose day is come in the time when the iniquity shall be brought to an end.

³⁰ Shall I cause it to return into its sheath? I must judge thee in the place where thou wast raised, in the land of where thou hast lived.

³¹ And I will pour out my indignation upon thee; I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath and deliver thee into the hand of fearful men who are skilful to destroy.

³² Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt no longer be remembered: for I the LORD have spoken.

22 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Now, thou son of man, wilt thou not judge, wilt thou not judge the city that spills innocent blood and cause her to know all her abominations?

³ Then thou shalt say, Thus hath the Lord GOD said, City that sheds blood in the midst of thyself, that thy time may come, and that has made idols against thyself to defile thyself!

⁴ In thy blood that thou hast shed thou hast sinned and hast defiled thyself with thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near and art come even unto thy years; therefore I have given thee in reproach unto the Gentiles, and in shame unto all the countries.

⁵ Those that are near and those that are far from thee shall mock thee, who art infamous and much vexed.

⁶ Behold, the princes of Israel, each one according to their power, were in thee to shed blood.

⁷ In thee they have despised father and mother; in the midst of thee they have dealt by oppression with the stranger; in thee they have vexed the fatherless and the widow.

⁸ Thou hast despised my holy things and hast profaned my sabbaths.

⁹ In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood; and in thee they eat upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.

¹⁰ In thee they have discovered their fathers’ nakedness; in thee they have forced the unclean menstruous woman.

¹¹ And one has committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee has forced his sister, his father’s daughter.

¹² In thee they have taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion and hast forgotten me, said the Lord GOD.

¹³ Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made and at thy blood which has been in the midst of thee.

¹⁴ Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it and will do it.

¹⁵ And I will scatter thee among the Gentiles and disperse thee in the countries and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

¹⁶ And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the Gentiles, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

¹⁷ ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹⁸ Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross; they are all brass and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are become the dross of silver.

¹⁹ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰ As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire upon it to melt it, so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will cause you to rest, and melt you.

²¹ I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

²² As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

²³ ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²⁴ Son of man, say unto her, Thou art not clean land, nor art thou sprinkled with rain in the day of indignation.

²⁵ There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken treasures and honour; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

²⁶ Her priests have violated my law by force and have profaned my holy things; they have made no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they showed the difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷ Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to follow their own greed.

²⁸ And her prophets have plastered them over with loose mud, prophesying vanity and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus hath the Lord GOD said, when the LORD has not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have done violence unto the poor and needy; they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

³⁰ And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found no one.

³¹ Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have recompensed their own way upon their heads, said the Lord GOD.

23 ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

² Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

³ And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.

⁴ And the names of them were Aholah the elder and Aholibah her sister; they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus were their names: Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

⁵ And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she fell in love with her lovers, the Assyrians her neighbours,

⁶ which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

⁷ Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all those that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all whom she fell in love; with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸ Neither did she leave her whoredoms of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity and poured their whoredom upon her.

⁹ Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, of whom she fell in love.

¹⁰ These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women, for they had executed judgments upon her.

¹¹ ¶ And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.

¹² She fell in love with the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed to perfection, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled, that they both took the same way

¹⁴ and that she increased her whoredoms, for when she saw men painted upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans painted in colour,

¹⁵ girded with girdles upon their loins, and mitres painted upon their heads, all of them looking like princes, after the manner of the men of Babylon, born in the land of the Chaldeans,

¹⁶ she fell in love with them as soon as she saw them with her eyes and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.

¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom and she was polluted with them, and her soul was disjointed from them.

¹⁸ So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness; then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her whoredoms in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

²⁰ For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

²¹ Thus thou didst call to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.

²² ¶ Therefore, O Aholibah, thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy desire is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side:

²³ the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, rulers, and princes, and captains, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men; all of them captains and rulers, great lords and renowned; all of them riding upon horses.

²⁴ And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with a multitude of peoples, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about, and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their laws.

²⁵ And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in furor; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and what is left shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy remnant shall be devoured by the fire.

²⁶ They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes and take away the vessels of thy glory.

²⁷ Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee and thy whoredom of the land of Egypt, so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

²⁸ For thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I deliver thee into the hand of those whom thou hatest, into the hand of those from whom thy soul is alienated:

²⁹ And they shall deal with thee hatefully and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

³⁰ I will do these things unto thee because thou hast gone a whoring after the Gentiles and because thou art polluted with their idols.

³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore I will put her cup into thine hand.

³² Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large; the Gentiles shall laugh thee to scorn and hold thee in derision; it contains much.

³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and with pain because of the cup of astonishment and desolation, because of the cup of thy sister Samaria.

³⁴ Thou shalt even drink it and finish it, and thou shalt break its shards and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, said the Lord GOD.

³⁵ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because thou hast forgotten me and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

³⁶ ¶ And The LORD said unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah and declare unto them their abominations?

³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands, and with their idols they have committed adultery and have even caused their sons, whom they bore unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

³⁸ Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day and have profaned my sabbaths.

³⁹ For when they had slain their sons unto their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.