Bible in 90 Days

²¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

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

²³ Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the accomplishment of every vision.

²⁴ For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel.

²⁵ For I [am] Jehovah; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed, it shall be no more deferred. For in your days, O rebellious house, will I speak the word and will perform it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²⁶ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

²⁷ Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days, and he prophesieth of times that are far off.

²⁸ Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word that I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

13 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying:

² Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say unto them that prophesy out of their own heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah.

³ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

⁴ O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in desert places.

⁵ Ye have not gone up into the breaches, nor made up the fence for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.

⁶ They have seen vanity and lying divination, that say, Jehovah saith! and Jehovah hath not sent them; and they make [them] to hope that the word will be fulfilled.

⁷ Have ye not seen a vain vision, and spoken a lying divination, when ye say, Jehovah saith; and I have not spoken?

⁸ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye speak vanity, and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, saith the Lord Jehovah.

⁹ And my hand shall be against the prophets that see vanity and that divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the register of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁰ Because, yea because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace! and there is no peace; and one buildeth up a wall, and lo, they daub it with untempered [mortar]—

¹¹ say unto them which daub it with untempered [mortar] that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing rain, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind shall burst forth.

¹² And lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing with which ye have daubed [it]?

¹³ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will cause to burst forth a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing rain in mine anger, and hail-stones in fury for utter destruction.

¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered [mortar], and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered; and it shall fall, and ye shall be destroyed in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

¹⁵ And I will accomplish my fury upon the wall, and upon them that daub it with untempered [mortar], and will say unto you, The wall is no [more], neither they that daubed it,

¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see a vision of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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

¹⁸ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the women that sew pillows for all wrists, and that make veils for the head [of persons] of every stature to catch souls! Will ye catch the souls of my people, and will ye save your own souls alive?

¹⁹ And will ye profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for morsels of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that listen to lying?

²⁰ Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your pillows, that the souls which ye catch by their means may fly away; and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, the souls that ye catch, that they may fly away.

²¹ And I will tear your veils and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

²² Because with falsehood ye have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, to save his life:

²³ therefore ye shall no more see vanity, nor divine divinations; and I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

14 And there came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

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

³ Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

⁴ Therefore speak to them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I Jehovah will answer him according to this, according to the multitude of his idols:

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

⁶ Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷ For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire of me by him, I Jehovah will answer him by myself;

⁸ and I will set my face against that man, and will make him desolate, [so that he shall be] for a sign and for proverbs, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

⁹ And if the prophet be enticed and shall speak a word, I Jehovah have enticed that prophet; and I will stretch out my hand against him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of the inquirer;

¹¹ that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither make themselves any more unclean with all their transgressions; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹² And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹³ Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by working unfaithfulness, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it;

¹⁴ though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, should be in it, they should deliver [but] their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵ If I cause evil beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave it, and it become a desolation, so that no one passeth through because of the beasts;

¹⁶ —though these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters: they only should be delivered, and the land should be a desolation.

¹⁷ Or [if] I bring the sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,

¹⁸ and these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only themselves should be delivered.

¹⁹ Or [if] I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast,

²⁰ and Noah, Daniel, and Job should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither son nor daughter: they should [but] deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

²² But behold, there shall be left in it those that escape, who shall be brought out of [it], sons and daughters. 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, as to all that I have brought upon it.

²³ And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, what is the wood of the vine more than any wood, the vine-branch, which is among the trees of the forest?

³ Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will [men] take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

⁴ Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel: the fire consumeth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned; is it fit for [any] work?

⁵ Behold, when it was whole, it was used for no work; how much less when the fire hath consumed it, and it is burned, should it yet be used for any work?

⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁷ And I will set my face against them: they shall go forth from [one] fire, and [another] fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah when I set my face against them.

⁸ And I will make the land a desolation, because they have wrought unfaithfulness, saith the Lord Jehovah.

16 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

³ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite: 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 for cleansing; thou wast not rubbed with salt at all, nor swaddled at all.

⁵ No eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, from abhorrence of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

⁶ And I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, and I said unto thee, in thy blood, Live! yea, I said unto thee, in thy blood, Live!

⁷ I caused thee to multiply, as the bud of the field; and thou didst increase and grow great, and thou camest to fulness of beauty; [thy] breasts were fashioned, and thy hair grew: but thou wast naked and bare.

⁸ And I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, and behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; and I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.

⁹ And I washed thee with water, and thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil;

¹⁰ and I clothed thee with embroidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I bound thee about with byssus, and covered thee with silk.

¹¹ And I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck;

¹² and I put a ring on thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

¹³ Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was byssus, and silk, and embroidered work. Thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou becamest exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

¹⁴ And thy fame went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect through my magnificence, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵ But thou didst confide in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by: his it was.

¹⁶ And of thy garments thou didst take, and madest for thyself high places decked with divers colours, and didst play the harlot thereupon: [the like] hath not come to pass, and shall be no more.

¹⁷ And thou didst take thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of males, and didst commit fornication with them.

¹⁸ And thou tookest thine embroidered garments, and coveredst them; and thou didst set mine oil and mine incense before them.

¹⁹ And my bread which I had given thee, the fine flour and the oil and the honey wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savour: thus it was, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²⁰ And thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hadst borne unto me, and these didst thou sacrifice unto them, to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,

²¹ that thou didst slay my children and give them up in passing them over to them?

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

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

²⁴ that thou didst also build unto thee a place of debauchery, and didst make thee a high place in every street:

²⁵ thou didst build thy high place at every head of the way, and madest thy beauty to be abhorred, and thou didst open thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiply thy whoredom.

²⁶ And thou didst commit fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and didst multiply thy whoredom to provoke me to anger.

²⁷ And behold, I stretched out my hand over thee, and diminished thine appointed portion; and I gave thee over unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who were confounded at thy lewd way.

²⁸ And thou didst commit fornication with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou didst commit fornication with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

²⁹ And thou didst multiply thy whoredom with the land of merchants, Chaldea, and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

³⁰ How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these [things], the work of a whorish woman, under no restraint;

³¹ in that thou buildest thy place of debauchery at the head of every way, and makest thy high place in every street! And thou hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest reward,

³² O adulterous wife, that taketh strangers instead of her husband.

³³ They give rewards to all harlots; but thou gavest thy rewards to all thy lovers, and rewardedst them, that they might come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms.

³⁴ And in thee is the contrary from [other] women, in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to commit fornication; and whereas thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, so art thou contrary.

³⁵ Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah.

³⁶ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy money hath been poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy fornications with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thine abominations, and because of the blood of thy children which thou didst give unto them;

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

³⁸ And I will judge thee with the judgments of women that commit adultery and shed blood; and I will give thee up to the blood of fury and jealousy;

³⁹ and I will give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy place of debauchery, and shall break down thy high places; and they shall strip thee of thy garments, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

⁴⁰ And they shall bring up an assemblage against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

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

⁴² And I will appease my fury against thee, and my jealousy shall depart from thee; and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

⁴³ Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast raged against me in all these [things], behold, therefore, I also will recompense thy way upon [thy] head, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou shalt not commit this lewdness besides all thine abominations.

⁴⁴ Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall speak in a proverb against thee, saying, As the mother, [so is] her daughter!

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

⁴⁶ And thine elder sister is Samaria that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

⁴⁷ And thou hast not walked in their ways, nor done according to their abominations; but as though that were a very little, thou hast been more corrupt than they in all thy ways.

⁴⁸ [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters!

⁴⁹ Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters, but she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

⁵⁰ And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me, and I took them away when I saw [it].

⁵¹ And Samaria hath not sinned according to the half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thine abominations which thou hast done.

⁵² Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own confusion, because of thy sins in which thou hast acted more abominably than they: they are more righteous than thou. So be thou ashamed also, and bear thy confusion, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

⁵³ And I will bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them;

⁵⁴ that thou mayest bear thy confusion, and mayest be confounded for all that thou hast done, in that thou comfortest them.

⁵⁵ And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; thou also and thy daughters, ye shall return to your former estate.

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

⁵⁷ before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise thee on every side.

⁵⁸ Thy lewdness and thine abominations, thou bearest them, saith Jehovah.

⁵⁹ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath, and broken the covenant.

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

⁶¹ And thou shalt remember thy ways, and be confounded, when thou shalt receive thy sisters who are older than thou, together with those who are younger than thou; for I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by virtue of thy covenant.

⁶² And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I [am] Jehovah;

⁶³ that thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and no more open thy mouth because of thy confusion, when I forgive thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

17 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,

³ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.

⁴ He cropped off the top of its young shoots, and carried it into a merchants' land; he set it in a city of traders.

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

⁶ And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, so that its branches should turn toward him, and the roots thereof be under him; and it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

⁷ And there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, from the beds of her plantation, this vine did bend her roots unto him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it.

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

⁹ Say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? All its fresh sprouting leaves shall wither, even without a great arm and many people to pluck it up by its roots.

¹⁰ And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.

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

¹² Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things are? Say, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon.

¹³ And he took of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath, and he took away the mighty of the land;

¹⁴ that the kingdom might be abased, that it might not lift itself up, that it might keep his covenant in order to stand.

¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

¹⁶ [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him, in the midst of Babylon, shall he die.

¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with a mighty army and a great assemblage do anything for him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons.

¹⁸ He despised the oath, and broke the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, yet hath he done all these things: he shall not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: [As] I live, verily, mine oath which he hath despised, and my covenant which he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his 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 unfaithfulness in which he hath been unfaithful against me.

²¹ And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind; and ye shall know that I Jehovah have spoken.

²² Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the highest branch of the lofty cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of its young shoots a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and eminent mountain:

²³ upon the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar; and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I Jehovah have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish: I Jehovah have spoken, and will do [it].

18 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² What mean ye, ye who use this proverb of the land of Israel, saying, [The] fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

³ [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have any more to use this proverb in Israel.

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

⁵ And if a man be righteous, and do judgment and justice:

⁶ —he hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, nor come near to a woman in her separation,

⁷ and hath not oppressed any; he hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath not exercised robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment;

⁸ he hath not given forth upon usury, nor taken increase; he hath withdrawn his hand from unrighteousness, hath executed true judgment between man and man,

⁹ hath walked in my statutes, and kept mine ordinances, to deal faithfully: he is righteous, he shall certainly live, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁰ And if he have begotten a son that is violent, a shedder of blood, and that doeth only one of any of these [things],

¹¹ and that doeth not any of those [duties], but also hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,

¹² hath oppressed the poor and needy, exercised robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, committed abomination,

¹³ given forth upon usury, and taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall certainly die; his blood shall be upon him.

¹⁴ But lo, if he have begotten a son that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like:

¹⁵ —he hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he hath not defiled his neighbour's wife,

¹⁶ and hath not oppressed any, nor withholden the pledge, neither hath exercised robbery; he hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment;

¹⁷ he hath withdrawn his hand from the poor, hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, [and] walked in my statutes: he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall certainly live.

¹⁸ As for his father, because he practised oppression, exercised robbery upon his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.

¹⁹ And ye say, Why doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? But the son hath done judgment and justice, hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them; he shall certainly live.

²⁰ The soul that sinneth, 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, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

²¹ And the wicked, if he turn from all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do judgment and justice, he shall certainly live, he shall not die.

²² None of his transgressions which he hath committed shall be remembered against him; in his righteousness which he hath done shall he live.

²³ Have I any pleasure at all in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; is it not in his turning from his way, that he may live?

²⁴ And when the righteous turneth from his righteousness and practiseth what is wrong, [and] doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous acts which he hath done shall be remembered: in his unfaithfulness which he hath wrought, and in his sin which he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

²⁵ And ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear then, house of Israel. Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

²⁶ When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and practiseth what is wrong, and dieth for it; in his wrong that he hath done shall he die.

²⁷ And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness which he hath committed, and doeth judgment and justice, he shall keep his soul alive.

²⁸ Because he considereth, and turneth from all his transgressions which he hath committed, he shall certainly live, he shall not die.

²⁹ But the house of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? Is it not your ways that are unequal?

³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your snare.

³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions wherewith ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit: why then will ye die, house of Israel?

³² For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah; therefore turn ye and live.

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

² and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.

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

⁴ And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt.

⁵ And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, 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; he devoured men.

⁷ And he knew their [desolate] palaces, and he laid waste their cities, so that the land was desolate, and all it contained, by the noise of his roaring.

⁸ Then the nations 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 a cage with nose-rings, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ Thy mother was as a vine, in thy rest, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

¹¹ And it had strong rods for sceptres of them that bear rule, and its stature was exalted between the thick boughs; and it was conspicuous by its height with the multitude of its branches.

¹² But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

¹³ And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground:

¹⁴ and a fire is gone out of a rod of its branches, [which] hath devoured its fruit; so that it hath no strong rod to be a sceptre for ruling. 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 of the month, [that] certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and they sat before me.

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

³ Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Are ye come to inquire of me? [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you.

⁴ Wilt thou judge them, wilt thou judge, son of man? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers,

⁵ and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand unto 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] Jehovah your God,

⁶ in that day I lifted up my hand unto them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament of all lands;

⁷ and I said unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I [am] Jehovah your God.

⁸ But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: none of them cast away the abominations of his eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I thought to pour out my fury upon them, so as to accomplish mine anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹ But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they were, in whose sight I had made myself known unto them in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹ And I gave them my statutes, and made known unto them mine ordinances, which if a man do, he 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] Jehovah that hallow them.

¹³ But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned: and I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

¹⁴ But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

¹⁵ And I also lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land that I had given [them], flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament of all lands;

¹⁶ because they rejected mine ordinances and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

¹⁷ But mine eye spared them so as not to destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ And I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk not in the statutes of your fathers, neither keep their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

¹⁹ I [am] Jehovah your God: walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, 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] Jehovah your God.

²¹ And the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live by them; they profaned my sabbaths: and I said I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish mine anger against them in the wilderness.

²² But I withdrew my hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

²³ I lifted up my hand also unto them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;

²⁴ because they performed not mine ordinances, and rejected my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

²⁵ And I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances whereby they should not live;

²⁶ and I defiled them by their own gifts, in that they devoted all that opened the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I [am] Jehovah.

²⁷ Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have wrought unfaithfulness against me.

²⁸ When I had brought them into the land which I had lifted up my hand to give unto 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 offering; and there they placed their sweet savour, and there poured out their drink-offerings.

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

³⁰ Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Do ye defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and do ye commit fornication after their abominations?

³¹ And when ye offer your gifts, making your sons to pass through the fire, ye defile yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day; and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you.

³² And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, in serving wood and stone.

³³ [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I reign over you.

³⁴ And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out;

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

³⁶ Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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 them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

³⁹ As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols henceforth also, if none of you will hearken unto me; but profane my holy name no more with your gifts and with your idols.

⁴⁰ For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel serve me, the whole of it, in the land; there will I accept them, and there will I require your heave-offerings and the first-fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

⁴¹ As a sweet savour will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you in the sight of the nations.

⁴² And ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have brought you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up my hand to give to your fathers.

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

⁴⁴ And ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.

⁴⁵ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

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

⁴⁷ and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flashing flame shall not be quenched; and all that it meets from the south to the north shall be burned thereby.

⁴⁸ And all flesh shall see that I Jehovah have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.

⁴⁹ And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

21 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, set thy face against Jerusalem, and drop [words] against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

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

⁴ Seeing 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 and all flesh shall know that I Jehovah have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.

⁶ Sigh then, thou son of man; with breaking of the loins, and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

⁷ And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore dost thou sigh? that thou shalt say, Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall languish, and all knees shall melt into water: behold, it cometh; it is here, saith the Lord Jehovah.

⁸ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

⁹ Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished.

¹⁰ It is sharpened for sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter. Shall we then make mirth, [saying,] The sceptre of my son contemneth all wood?

¹¹ And he hath given it to be furbished that it may be handled. The sword,—it 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 against my people, it shall be against all the princes of Israel: they are given up to the sword along with my people: smite therefore upon the thigh.

¹³ For the trial [is made]; and what if even the contemning sceptre shall be no [more]? saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁴ And thou, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; for [the strokes of] the sword shall be doubled the third time: it is the sword of the slain, the sword that hath slain the great one, which encompasseth them privily.

¹⁵ In order that the heart may melt, and the stumbling-blocks be multiplied, I have set the threatening sword against all their gates: ah! it is made glittering, it is whetted for the slaughter.

¹⁶ Gather up [strength], go to the right hand, turn thee, go to the left, whithersoever thy face is appointed.

¹⁷ And I myself will smite my hands together, and I will satisfy my fury: I Jehovah have spoken [it].

¹⁸ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹⁹ And thou, son of man, set thee two ways, by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come—out of one land shall they both come—and make thee a signpost, make it at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰ Appoint a way for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah at the fenced [city] of Jerusalem.

²¹ For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shaketh [his] arrows, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.

²² In his right hand is the lot of Jerusalem to appoint battering-rams, to open the mouth for bloodshed, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gates, to cast mounds, to build siege-towers.

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

²⁴ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye make your iniquity to be remembered in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵ And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, at the time of the iniquity of the end,

²⁶ —thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre and take off the crown; what is shall be no [more]. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn it! This also shall be no [more], until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [to him].

²⁸ And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus speaketh the Lord Jehovah concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and thou shalt say, A sword, a sword is drawn; for the slaughter is it furbished, that it may consume, that it may glitter:

²⁹ whilst they see vanity for thee, whilst they divine a lie unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are slain, whose day is come at the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰ Restore [it] to its sheath. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy birth.

³¹ And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow upon thee the fire of my wrath, and give thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful to destroy.

³² Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt not be remembered: for I Jehovah have spoken.

22 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea, cause her to know all her abominations,

³ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in her midst, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

⁴ Thou art become guilty by thy blood which thou hast shed, and hast defiled thyself with thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking unto all countries.

⁵ Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous [and] full of tumult.

⁶ Behold, the princes of Israel have been in thee to shed blood, each according to his power.

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

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

⁹ In thee there have been slanderous men to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness;

¹⁰ in thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation.

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

¹² In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast overreached thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹³ And behold, I have smitten mine hand at thine overreaching which thou hast done, and at thy bloodshed which hath been in the midst of thee.

¹⁴ Shall thy heart endure, shall thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I Jehovah have spoken, and will do [it].

¹⁵ And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

¹⁶ And thou shalt be polluted through thyself in the sight of the nations, and thou shalt know that I [am] Jehovah.

¹⁷ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

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

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

²⁰ [As] they gather silver, and copper, 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 mine anger and in my fury, and I will lay you on and melt you.

²¹ Yea, I will collect you, and blow upon you 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 Jehovah have poured out my fury upon you.

²³ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

²⁴ Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

²⁵ There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they devour souls; they take away treasure and precious things; they increase her widows in the midst of her;

²⁶ her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things: they put no difference between the holy and profane, neither do they make known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean, and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷ Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

²⁸ And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah! and Jehovah hath not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully.

³⁰ And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

³¹ And I will pour out mine indignation upon them; I will consume them in the fire of my wrath: their own way will I recompense upon their head, saith the Lord Jehovah.

23 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

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

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

⁴ And their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister; and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

⁵ And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians [her] neighbours,

⁶ clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

⁷ And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, all of them the choice of the children of Asshur; and with all after whom she lusted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸ Neither left she her whoredoms [brought] from Egypt; for in her youth they had lain with her, and had handled the breasts of her virginity, and poured their fornication upon her.

⁹ Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the children of Asshur, after whom she lusted.

¹⁰ These discovered her nakedness, they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword; and she became a name among women; and they executed judgment upon her.

¹¹ And her sister Oholibah saw [this], and was more corrupt in her passion than she, and in her fornications more than the whoredoms of her sister.

¹² She lusted after the children of Asshur [her] neighbours, governors and rulers, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them attractive young men.

¹³ And I saw that she was defiled: both took one way.

¹⁴ And she increased her fornications; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

¹⁵ girded with girdles upon their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them captains in appearance, [after] the likeness of the children of Babylon, of Chaldea, the land of their nativity.

¹⁶ And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she lusted after them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.

¹⁷ And the children of Babylon came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their fornication; she too defiled herself with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

¹⁸ And she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness; and my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she played the harlot in the land of Egypt;

²⁰ and she lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is [as] the flesh of asses, and whose issue is [as] the issue of horses.

²¹ And thou didst look back to the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy teats by the Egyptians, for the breasts of thy youth.

²² Therefore, Oholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side.

²³ The children of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all the children of Asshur with them; all of them attractive young men, governors and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.

²⁴ And they shall come against thee [with] armour, chariots and wheels, and with an assemblage of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee [with] target, and shield, and helmet round about; and I will put judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

²⁵ And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall cut off thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

²⁶ They shall also strip the of thy garments, and take away thy fair jewels.

²⁷ And I will make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom [brought] from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

²⁸ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give thee over into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated.

²⁹ And they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; so that the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy fornications.

³⁰ These things shall be done unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the nations, because thou hast defiled thyself with their idols.

³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; and I have given her cup into thy hand.

³² Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large; thou shalt be for a laughing-stock and a derision, [for] it containeth much.

³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, the cup of thy sister Samaria;

³⁴ thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord Jehovah.

³⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy fornications.

³⁶ And Jehovah said unto me, Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations.

³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also passed over unto them their children, whom they bore unto me, to be devoured.

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

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