Bible in 90 Days

Eternal One: ²² Son of man, what is this saying the people keep repeating in the land of Israel: “The days pass by, and the prophecies never come true”? ²³ Tell the people of Israel the Eternal Lord says that this saying will not be quoted for long. I am going to make sure it is never said again in Israel. The time is near when every prophecy will be fulfilled. ²⁴ There won’t be any more false visions or favorable predictions in Israel. ²⁵ I, the Eternal One, will speak, and what I speak will be fulfilled without delay. You rebellious crowd! I will fulfill whatever I say during your lifetime.

Eternal One: ²⁷ Son of man, the people of Israel are saying, “The visions of the prophet are for the distant future; He speaks of events a long way off.” ²⁸ Therefore, tell the people of Israel the Eternal Lord most certainly says that nothing I’ve predicted will wait any longer. Whatever I speak will be fulfilled without delay.

Eternal One: ² Son of man, preach against the false prophets of Israel—the ones making up predictions and visions out of their own imaginations. Tell them to listen to the real word of the Eternal One! ³ The Eternal Lord says woe to those foolish prophets whose message is based on their own spirits and have not had a vision! ⁴ Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals foraging through the ruins. ⁵ You have put forth no effort to repair the broken-down defenses or to reinforce the wall around the city so that it will stand strong in battle on the day the Eternal sends His judgment. ⁶ Their warnings and predictions are all false. They utter only lies. They speak in the name of the Lord, claiming, “the Eternal declares,” but I have not sent them. The funny thing is, they actually expect their predictions to come true. ⁷ Did you not perceive a false vision and speak an untrue divination when you proclaimed, “The Eternal declares,” although I hadn’t said anything at all?

⁸ So I say because you have spoken falsely and have seen empty visions, I am against you who prophesy out of your own imaginations. ⁹ I will set My hand against those who see false visions and lying divinations. These self-proclaimed soothsayers will not be a part of the council of My people or be listed among the people of Israel. They will be forbidden from entering the sacred land of Israel. Then you will know I am the Eternal Lord. ¹⁰ It is because these false prophets have lied to My people and led them off course, saying, “Everything is peaceful and fine,” when nothing is peaceful or fine. When the people build a weak and wobbly wall, the false prophets are right behind them, coating it with plaster. ¹¹ Tell these plasterers that your wall is going to fall. Torrential rains will pour down upon your lies, hail will pound your flimsy creation, and mighty winds will knock down your fabricated dreams. ¹² And guess what? When your nicely plastered wall collapses, the people will ask you, “Where is your plaster? Didn’t it strengthen the wall?” ¹³ So I say that in My fury I will release a mighty wind to knock it down. In My anger I will produce hailstorms and torrential rains to destroy it. ¹⁴ I will demolish the wall you covered with plaster and level it to the ground so that nothing is left but its foundation. When your wall falls, you will be destroyed. Then you will know I am the Eternal. ¹⁵ This is how My wrath will be satisfied against the wall and those who covered it with plaster. Then I will say to you that there is nothing left of the wall or those who plastered it— ¹⁶ those fraudulent seers of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem, claiming everything was peaceful and fine when everything was not peaceful or fine.

¹⁷ Now, son of man, you must also preach against the women of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations. Preach against these false prophetesses, ¹⁸ and tell them the Eternal Lord says, “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on wrists and make veils of various sizes for heads in order to hunt down souls with their magic. Do you actually think you can entrap the souls of My people for your own purposes without endangering your own lives? ¹⁹ You have profaned Me among My people, trading precious souls for a few scraps of barley and bread. Your lies have caused many to die who should not have and many to live who should not have, all because they listened to your lies.”

²⁰ I, the Eternal Lord, have this to say regarding your enchantments: I oppose your magic charms you use to hunt precious souls like birds! I will strip them from your wrists and set the people free. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and rescue My people from your power; they will no longer fall prey to your hunt. Then you will know I am the Eternal One. ²² Because you have discouraged the innocent and unsuspecting with your lies and deceptions when I left them in peace, and because you have encouraged the wicked instead of showing them the error of their ways so they could live, ²³ you will no longer conjure up lying visions or practice divination. For I will save My people from your seductive powers. Then you will know I am the Eternal One.

Eternal One: ³ Son of man, these men are devoted to breathless idols and have pursued things that cause them to stumble into sin. Why should I even bother to listen to their prayers? ⁴ Therefore tell them the Eternal Lord says to you, “Any Israelite who devotes himself to breathless idols and pursues things that will cause him to stumble into sin and still has the audacity to consult a prophet will be answered by Me, personally, in light of his pagan devotions. ⁵ I am going to recapture the hearts of Israel, all of whom have deserted Me for their idols.”

⁶ Therefore, tell the people of Israel the Eternal Lord commands you to repent! Turn away from your breathless idols, and relinquish all of your shocking ways! ⁷ When any Israelite—or any foreigner living in Israel—severs his relationship with Me, devotes himself to his idols, pursues anything that may cause him to stumble into sin, and then has the audacity to consult a prophet to ask questions of Me, I will answer the inquirer personally. ⁸ I will turn against him and make an example of him. I will cut him off from the midst of the people. Then you will know I am the Eternal.

⁹ Also, if a prophet is deceived into offering a message, it is I, the Eternal One, who has deceived him. I will raise My hand against him and cut him off from My people, Israel, until all memory of him is erased. ¹⁰ The prophet and the one who inquires of him will be equally guilty and equally punished, ¹¹ so that the people of Israel will not lose their focus on Me or filthy themselves with any more of their rebellious evil. After this, they will be My people, and I will be their God.

Eternal One: ¹³ Son of man, suppose the people of a particular country wander away from Me in pursuit of sin and I raise My hand against them destroying their food source, sending famine, and killing off the people and animals who live there; ¹⁴ even if these three legendary men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were all living in that country, they could save only themselves by their righteousness. ¹⁵ Suppose I send wild beasts into that land and they kill the people, and the place becomes so desolate and dangerous because of the animals that no one dares to travel through the land. ¹⁶ As surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, even if these three men were living there, they could not save their own sons and daughters. Only those three righteous men would be saved, and the land would become a wilderness. ¹⁷ Suppose I bring war against that land and say to let the sword invade and pass through the land; ¹⁸ as surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, even if these three men were living there, they could not save their own sons and daughters. Only those three righteous men would be saved. ¹⁹ Suppose I send a disease to spread across that land, flooding it with My anger in blood, infecting and killing people and animals alike; ²⁰ as surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, they could not save their own sons or daughters. Only those three men would be saved because of their righteousness.

Eternal One: It will be far worse when I send out My four tragic judgments upon Jerusalem—war, starvation, wild beasts, and disease—to kill the people and animals! ^22-23 Still, a few survivors will remain—sons and daughters—who will join you in exile. They will come to you, and once you see how they behave and what they do, you will be comforted regarding the awful disaster I have poured out upon Jerusalem. For you will understand that every single judgment and catastrophe I have set against Jerusalem has been necessary.

Eternal One: ² Son of man, what is the difference between the wood of a grapevine and the wood of a tree in a forest? ³ Is the wood of a grapevine ever used to make anything practical? Can it be carved into pegs to hang things on? ⁴ No. When vine wood has been bundled together and thrown into the fire as fuel, its ends are burned but the middle is only charred. Are the remains good for anything then? ⁵ Even when vine wood is whole and not yet singed, it is not useful for anything; so how can it be made useful after the fire has scorched some and consumed the rest?

⁶ Therefore, this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say: Just as I have gathered the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest to be used as fuel for the fire, so I will bundle together those who live in Jerusalem. ⁷ I will turn My back on them. Even though they may survive the fire, another fire will nonetheless consume them. And when I turn My back on them and oppose them, you will know I am the Eternal One. ⁸ I will transform this land into a wasteland because of their faithlessness.

Eternal One: You won’t be able to shake your pagan heritage. Your ancestors were Canaanites, and you were born among the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴ When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord. No one took care of you: you were not washed with water and purified, nor were you rubbed with salt and wrapped for warmth. ⁵ No one felt sorry for you or had compassion on you or did anything to help you. Instead, your parents abandoned you, tossed you out into an open field. For on the day you were born, people looked upon you with deep contempt.

⁶ Then I passed by and saw you squirming around in your blood. As you lay there in your own blood, I said to you, “Live!” Again, I insisted, “Live!” ⁷ And that’s exactly what you did. I helped you flourish like plants in the field. In time you grew, became a tall, beautiful young woman:^[a] your breasts developed and your hair grew thick and long. But you were still naked and bare. ⁸ I passed by you again and saw you were old enough to love and to be loved, so I offered Myself to you in marriage. I wrapped my garment over you to cover your nakedness. Then I gave you My divine promise to always be your Beloved, and I entered the sacred covenant of marriage with you. I wed you, and you became Mine. ⁹ I bathed you with pure water and washed away the old blood from your skin, and then I anointed you with fragrant oils. ¹⁰ I dressed you in an embroidered gown and put the finest leather sandals on your feet. I gave you the most luxurious linens and exquisite garments. ¹¹ I decorated you with the most expensive jewelry: bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your neck, ¹² a nose ring, costly earrings, and a stunning crown for your head. ¹³ I adorned you with everything a woman could wish for: gold and silver, the finest clothes of linen, silk, and embroidery. You dined on elegant meals made with fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You became a beautiful woman and carried yourself as a queen! ¹⁴ You became famous among the nations for your extraordinary beauty—beauty that flourished only because I lavished My splendor on you.

Eternal One: ¹⁵ But you trusted in your own beauty and used your fame to become a whore. You slept with every man who was simply passing by. ¹⁶ You made shrines for your idols out of the luxurious linens I gave to you and gave yourself to play the harlot there. Such things should never have happened and must not ever again. ¹⁷ Then you took all of the expensive gold and silver jewelry and precious stones I gave to you, and you created male images so that you could play the harlot with them! ^18-19 You took the embroidered gown I gave you to clothe your male images. Then you took other gifts I had given to you—oil, incense, bread, fine flour, and honey—and you offered them all as a pleasing aroma to your idols. This is what happened, I, the Eternal Lord proclaim. ²⁰ Then you took your sons and daughters—the ones you bore to Me—and slaughtered them, sacrificing your precious children to your idols to be consumed! Wasn’t your prostitution enough? ²¹ You killed My children and sacrificed them to breathless idols as burnt offerings! ²² Not once during all this prostitution and other shocking deeds did you remember your youth when I found you naked and bare, squirming in your own blood!

²³ To top off all your wickedness—how bad it will be for you, I, the Eternal Lord, promise you— ²⁴ you built yourselves sacred sites and put lofty shrines in every public square. ²⁵ You put them on every street corner and degraded your priceless beauty, opening yourself up wide to every man who passed by to add yet another lover. ²⁶ Then you started whoring with your well-endowed Egyptian neighbors, and I became more and more angry with your escalating promiscuity. ²⁷ Finally, I reached out and struck you, decreasing your territory. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, to do with you as they pleased. Even they were embarrassed by your lascivious behavior! ²⁸ You even started whoring it up with the Assyrians because your lust could not be satisfied. But even after you prostituted yourself, you still weren’t satisfied! ²⁹ So you prostituted yourself to Chaldea, the land of merchants, but that still wasn’t enough to satisfy you.

³⁰ How sick is your heart as you instigate all these vile perversions, the deeds of a brazen harlot? ³¹ When you built your shrines in every public square and constructed lofty shrines on every street corner, you were different from most prostitutes because you wouldn’t take money for your favors. ³² Adulterous wife! You would rather sleep with a stranger than your own husband! ³³ Whores are glad to accept fees from their customers, but you are the one paying fees and giving gifts to bribe strangers to come to you. ³⁴ So you are the perverse opposite of all other whores. No one solicits your services, and you pay instead of taking their money! This is why you are so different.

Eternal One: ³⁵ Therefore, harlot, listen to My word! ³⁶ Because you wasted the gifts I gave to you, spent your lust, and exposed your body in promiscuous acts with countless lovers; and because you devoted yourselves to despicable idols; and because you gave your children as burnt sacrifices to these breathless effigies, ³⁷ I am going to round up all of your lovers—all those you have seduced into mutual pleasures, those you have loved and those you have hated. I will gather them from every corner of the earth and set them against you. I will strip you naked before the assembly of your lovers, and they will see every part of you exposed. ³⁸ Then I will condemn you to the punishment of an adulterous or murderous woman! I will bring on you the blood of My fury and jealousy. ³⁹ Then I will give you over to your lovers, and they will destroy your sacred sites and lofty shrines. They will rip off your fine garments and expensive jewelry, and they will leave you naked and bare, just as I found you when you were a baby. ⁴⁰ They will bring an angry mob against you, and the mob will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn down your houses in a fiery blaze and punish you in the sight of many women! You will be ashamed. I will put an end to your perverted prostitution, and you will no longer bribe lovers to come to your bed! ⁴² Then My fury and jealousy will be satisfied, and I will be at peace and not angry with you any longer. ⁴³ Because you failed to remember the days of your youth but instead you infuriated Me with countless perverted love affairs, I will pay you back for every ounce of indecency you instigated. I, the Eternal Lord, proclaim this.

Did you not add vulgar acts to your streak of shocking sins? ⁴⁴ Everyone who likes to quote proverbs will certainly be quoting this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” ⁴⁵ You truly are the daughter of your pagan mother, who loathed her husband and despised her children. You truly are a sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and despised their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. ⁴⁶ Your older sister is Samaria, who lives to the north with her daughters. Your younger sister, Sodom, lives to the south with her daughters. ⁴⁷ Not only did you imitate the ways and follow the shocking actions of your sisters, but soon you became even more corrupt than they ever were. ⁴⁸ As surely as I live, your sister, Sodom, and her daughters never acted as badly as you and your daughters have acted. ⁴⁹ This was the sin of your warped sister, Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, gluttonous, and lazy. She never gave help to the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They were prideful, and they did abhorrent things right in front of Me, shamelessly and without remorse! As you already know, I put an end to Sodom and her daughters when I saw their behavior. ⁵¹ And don’t forget Samaria! She didn’t sin half as much as you. You have committed far more shocking deeds than they ever did. With all the detestable things you have done, you make your sister seem righteous. ⁵² Face your humiliation; your sisters will fare better in judgment in light of your wickedness. Compared with your despicable deeds, they are more righteous than you. You should be ashamed of yourself! You have to live with your disgrace; for compared to you, your sisters seem righteous!

⁵³ However, I am going to restore the fortunes of your sisters—Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters—and I’ll restore your fortunes too. ⁵⁴ You still must live with your disgrace and bear the shame for what you have done, for your two sisters will be comforted in comparison with your wickedness. ⁵⁵ You and your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all of your daughters will become again what you once were. ⁵⁶ In the days when you were prideful, you looked down upon your sister, Sodom. You wouldn’t even say her name. ⁵⁷ But that was before your evil was exposed! Now you are looked down upon by everyone! The daughters of Syria^[b] and all of her neighbors and the daughters of Philistia despise you! ⁵⁸ But you must live with the consequences of your indecent and shocking behavior. I, the Eternal Lord, proclaim this.

⁵⁹ You will get what you deserve from Me because you have despised My oath and broken our sacred covenant. ⁶⁰ But I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish with you a new covenant which will last forever! ⁶¹ Then you will remember your evil ways and be filled with remorse when you receive back your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of our covenant. ⁶² I will securely establish My covenant with you, and you will know I am the Eternal One. ⁶³ You will remember your wretched past and shut your mouth because of the deep sense of shame within you when I forgive you for all the evil you have done. I, the Eternal Lord, proclaim this.

Eternal One: ² Son of man, tell the people of Israel a riddle. ³ Tell them the Eternal Lord says that a great eagle with strapping wings, long feathers, and thick plumage of various colors came to Lebanon. The great eagle took the top off of a cedar, ⁴ carried its top growth away to a land of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders. ⁵ Then the great eagle took some of the seed of the land and planted it in lush, fertile soil beside abundant waters so it could grow like a willow. ⁶ The seed sprouted in the soil and became a flourishing vine, growing low to the ground. The vine’s branches grew toward the great eagle, and the roots remained beneath it. The vine produced many sprouts and branches.

⁷ There was another great eagle with strapping wings and thick, colorful plumage. From where it had been planted, the vine sent out its roots and branches toward the second eagle, so that eagle could give it even more water. ⁸ The vine had been planted in lush, fertile soil beside abundant waters in order to produce healthy growth and branches, bear fruit, and become a magnificent vine instead of remaining a lowly one.

⁹ Now I, the Eternal Lord, ask, will that vine continue to flourish? Won’t the eagle pull it out of the lush, fertile soil by its roots, strip it of its fruit, and leave it to wither? It won’t take much strength or many people to pull it up by the roots. ¹⁰ Now if it is transplanted, will it flourish? When the angry east wind strikes it, won’t it wither away completely? Won’t it shrivel up in the plot of ground where it had grown?

Eternal One: ¹² Ask this rebellious crowd if they know what these stories represent. Give them this explanation: Remember how Babylon’s king swooped into Jerusalem like an eagle and took its young king and national leaders back to Babylon. ¹³ He replaced that young king with a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, making the new king swear an oath of loyalty. Babylon’s king also ordered all the remaining leaders of Judah taken into exile ¹⁴ so that the kingdom would remain weak and lowly, not able to rise up against him, and survive only by following the provisions of his covenant. ¹⁵ But Jerusalem’s newly appointed leader rebelled against Babylon’s king by sending his ambassadors to another king in Egypt to receive horses and recruit a large army. Do you think Jerusalem’s king and his ambassadors will succeed? Is it possible to get away with such things? Can this vassal king break a covenant and escape?

¹⁶ As surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, I declare that Jerusalem’s King Zedekiah will die in Babylon, the land of the king who gave him Jerusalem’s throne and whom he despised when he broke that covenant. ¹⁷ Pharaoh and his powerful army, a vast company, won’t be of any help when Babylon builds ramps and erects siege walls against Jerusalem; many will be destroyed behind those city walls. ¹⁸ Jerusalem’s king broke his word and betrayed the covenant. Because he pledged his allegiance, yet committed these betrayals, he will not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore, I say, as surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, what Jerusalem’s king despised was My oath and what he betrayed was My covenant. I will make him pay the consequences. ²⁰ I will set a trap for him, and he will be caught in it. I will bring him to Babylon and punish him there because of his unfaithfulness and disloyalty to Me. ²¹ All of his elite soldiers will be killed in battle, and whoever manages to survive will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I, the Eternal One, have promised this.

Eternal One: ^22-23 I personally will take a sprig from the top growth of a lofty cedar—the highest, youngest, and most flexible—and plant it on a high and lofty mountain, on the mountain of Israel. It will produce healthy branches and bear fruit and become a noble cedar. All sorts of birds will come and nest in it and find shade in its branches. ²⁴ All the trees of the field will know that I am the Eternal; I cut down the tall tree and make the small tree tall; I cause the flourishing tree to wither and the withering tree to flourish. I, the Eternal, have spoken, and I will do exactly as I’ve promised.

Eternal One: ² Why do you people continually quote this proverb about Israel:

³ As surely as I live, I, the Eternal Lord, declare you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore. ⁴ For every living being belongs to Me—parent and child alike. You will die for your own sins, not because of what your ancestors did. ⁵ Imagine a righteous man who always does what is right: ⁶ First, he worships Me exclusively; he doesn’t feast at the heathen shrines atop mountains, nor does he worship idols as others do in Israel—he won’t even look at them! Second, he does not sleep with his neighbor’s wife or have sex with a woman when she is menstruating. ⁷ Third, he does not persecute or abuse anyone; he gives back a debtor’s collateral and does not seize poorer men’s property. Fourth, he tends to the poor; he clothes the naked and gives his bread to the hungry ⁸ and doesn’t charge those poor people who borrow from him interest or keep their profits. Fifth, he is law-abiding; he does not participate in wrong deeds and is fair toward all others. ⁹ Sixth, he is obedient to Me, living by My statutes and faithfully keeping My laws. This man who is righteous—he will surely live.

^10-11 Now suppose this righteous man has a violent son. The son is a killer and does wicked things that the righteous father has never done: He worships other gods, feasting at the heathen shrines atop mountains. He defiles his neighbor’s wife. ¹² He abuses the poor and persecutes the needy. He seizes property and keeps a debtor’s collateral. He looks up to breathless idols, worshiping them. He breaks the law and commits shocking deeds. ¹³ He charges those who borrow from him interest and makes excessive profits. Do you think the wicked son will live? Of course not! Because he has done all of these shocking things, he will be put to death, and it will be his own fault.

¹⁴ Now, suppose the wicked son has a son of his own, and this son watches his father’s vile lifestyle and chooses not to do as his father has done: ¹⁵ He worships Me exclusively; he doesn’t feast at the heathen shrines atop mountains, nor does he worship idols as others do in Israel—he won’t even look at them! He does not defile his neighbor’s wife. ¹⁶ He does not persecute or abuse anyone; he gives back a debtor’s collateral and does not seize poorer men’s properties. He tends to the poor; he clothes the naked, gives his bread to the hungry, ¹⁷ does not participate in wronging the poor, nor does he charge those who borrow from him interest or make excessive profit. He is obedient to Me, faithfully keeping My laws and living by My statutes. This man who is righteous will not die for his father’s sins. He will surely live. ¹⁸ But his father will surely die for his own wicked deeds—taking advantage of the poor, seizing property from poorer Israelites, and refusing to do good for his people.

¹⁹ So why do you ask, “Why is the son not also punished for his father’s guilt?” Don’t you see? The son did not commit his father’s sins. The son chose to do what is just and right by remembering and following My laws, so he will surely live. ²⁰ The person who sins will die. The child will not be punished for the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent be punished for the guilt of the child. The righteous will be credited with righteousness. The wicked will be charged with wickedness.

²¹ But there is good news even for the wicked. If the wicked turn away from their sins, choose to uphold My laws, be honest, and live a righteous life, then they will surely live. They won’t die. ²² I won’t remember any of their previous wrongs against them because of the right things they have done. They will surely live. ²³ Do I enjoy watching the wicked die? No. I, the Eternal One, would prefer for the wicked to stop doing the wrong things they do and live. ²⁴ If the righteous stop doing what is right, choose the sinful path, and commit the shocking things the wicked do, do you think they will live? Certainly not! I won’t remember any of their righteous deeds because of all the unfaithful and wicked things they do. They will surely die.

²⁵ You say, “The Lord’s way is not fair at all!” Hear Me, people of Israel: You think My way is unfair? You are the ones with unjust ways! ²⁶ If a righteous person turns away from the right path and chooses to act wickedly, he will die for it. He will die because of the sin he committed. ²⁷ But if a wicked person turns from the wicked path and chooses to be honest and live a righteous life, he will end up saving his life! ²⁸ Because he thought about his wrongs and turned away from the wicked things he’d done, putting them behind him, then he will surely live. He will not die! ²⁹ Yet the people of Israel continue to complain, “The Lord’s way is not fair at all!” You think My way is unfair, people of Israel? Don’t you think you are the ones with perverted ways?

³⁰ Therefore, people of Israel, I will judge each of you according to what you have done. Repent! Turn from your wicked ways so that your sins do not trip you up! ³¹ Get rid of all your wicked ways! Acquire a new heart and a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, people of Israel? ³² I don’t enjoy watching anyone die, so turn back to Me and live!

Eternal One: ³ Son of man, talk to the elders of Israel, and tell them I have a question: “Have you come to ask questions of Me? As surely as I, the Eternal Lord live, I will not allow you to question Me.”

⁴ Will you pass judgment on them, son of man? Will you judge whether they have been serving other gods? Confront them about the shocking acts of their fathers, ⁵ and tell them the Eternal Lord says that on the day I selected Israel, made an oath to the descendants of Jacob’s family, and revealed Myself to them in Egypt, I lifted My hand and swore to them, “I am the Eternal your God.” ⁶ On the same day, I swore to them that I would rescue them from the land of Egypt and take them to another land I had looked for and found just for them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most splendid of all lands. ⁷ And I said to them, “Get rid of all the vile images that captivate your eyes, and do not degrade yourselves with the idols of Egypt! I am the Eternal your God.” ⁸ But they rebelled against Me and refused to heed My warnings. They kept staring at the vile images and worshiping the idols of Egypt.

I was just about to pour out My anger upon them and express My wrath while they were still in Egypt, ^9-10 but for the sake of My good name and reputation, I decided against it. I thought it better not to profane My name in the eyes of those nations around where My people lived. After all, I had revealed Myself to them when I brought My people out of the land of Egypt and into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them My laws and commandments so that if they would follow them, they might live. ¹² I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign that they would know that I, the Eternal One, have made them holy. ¹³ But the Israelites rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They refused to follow My laws and ignored My commandments, even though they knew the one who follows them will live. They also polluted My Sabbaths and treated them like any other day.

So I said I would pour out My anger upon them and destroy them in the wilderness. ¹⁴ For the sake of My good name and reputation, however, I chose not to profane My name in the eyes of those nations who had witnessed Me bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. ¹⁵ Also, I raised My hand and swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most splendid of all lands! ¹⁶ I swore this to them because they ignored My rules and strayed from My laws and polluted My Sabbaths; for they were completely devoted to their idols. ¹⁷ I looked on them with mercy, and I did not destroy them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ I told their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the example set by your fathers. Do not live by their standards or degrade yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I, the Eternal One, am your God. Follow My laws and remember to obey My rules. ²⁰ Keep My Sabbaths holy as signs between us so you will know I, the Eternal, am your God.” ²¹ But the children also rebelled against Me. They strayed from My laws and ignored My commandments, even though they knew that one who follows My rules will live. They polluted My Sabbaths, and they were not careful to keep My rules. So I told them that I would pour out My anger upon them and express My wrath against them in the wilderness. ²² But for the sake of My good name and reputation, I suspended their punishment. I chose not to profane My name in the eyes of those nations who had witnessed Me bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. ²³ Also, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among those nations and cast them out into unfamiliar lands ²⁴ because they had refused to obey My rules and rejected My laws. Instead, their eyes were devoted to their fathers’ breathless idols, and they polluted My Sabbaths. ²⁵ I handed them over to bad laws and rules that could not lead to life. ²⁶ I declared them ritually impure because they were giving every firstborn child as a burnt sacrifice to pagan gods. I did this to horrify them, so that they would know I am the Eternal One.

²⁷ Therefore, son of man, confront the people of Israel and tell them the Eternal Lord says, “Your fathers showed their contempt for Me and betrayed Me. ²⁸ When I brought them into the land I had solemnly promised to give them, they offered their sacrifices on every high hill and under every shade tree they saw. In the land I gave them, they irritated Me with their offerings. They burned fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings there. ²⁹ I asked them, ‘What is this shrine you visit?’”

Eternal One: ³⁰ Therefore, tell the people of Israel that the Eternal Lord says if you degrade yourselves in the same ways your fathers did—prostituting yourselves to the same foul, breathless images, ³¹ giving your children to them as burnt offerings, and degrading yourselves with those idols still today—do you think I should allow you to ask questions of Me, Israel? As surely as I live, I, the Eternal, say I will not allow you to ask Me anything.

³² You entertain thoughts such as, “We want to be like the other nations, like the other people of the world who serve idols made of wood and stone.” But your secret thoughts will never become a reality.

^33-34 As surely as I live, I, the Eternal Lord, proclaim I will rule as your king with a fierce and mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and an overflowing wrath. With My power, I will bring you out of the nations and gather you from the unfamiliar lands where you have been scattered. ³⁵ I will bring you into the wilderness of nations, and I will personally render My judgment upon you. ³⁶ I will judge you in the same way I judged your fathers in the wilderness that lies east of the land of Egypt.

³⁷ I will have you pass under My rod, and I will make you live up to the terms of the covenant. ³⁸ I will get rid of the rebels and traitors among you. I may bring them out of the lands where they are exiled, but I will not allow them back to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Eternal One.

³⁹ (to the people of Israel) Go ahead and worship your idols—all of you! Eventually, you will see that what you are doing is pointless. Then you will start listening to Me and stop profaning My sacred name with your gifts and false gods. ⁴⁰ There upon the high mountain of Israel, which is My holy mountain residence, all the people of Israel will worship and serve Me when they return to the land. There I will accept them. There I will expect your gifts and your firstfruit offerings, with all of your other sacred duties to Me. ⁴¹ When I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the unfamiliar lands where you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasant aroma. I will put My holiness on display by the way you live as all the world watches! ⁴² You will know that I am the Eternal One when I bring you into the land of Israel—the splendid land I solemnly promised to give your ancestors. ⁴³ Then and there, you will remember your wrong turns and all of the wicked things you have done to degrade yourselves, and you will hate yourselves every time you see your reflection because of all the evil things you have done. ⁴⁴ You will know, O people of Israel, that I am the Eternal when I deal fairly with you in order to protect My good name and reputation, and not out of My frustration toward your wickedness and mindless corruption.

Eternal One: ⁴⁶ Son of man, look south! Preach against the south, and prophesy against forests in the Negev. ⁴⁷ Tell the southern forest to listen to the word of the Eternal. The Eternal Lord says, “I am about to set you on fire, and it will spread and devour all of your trees—both green and dry. The raging fire will not be put out! Everything and everyone from south to north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸ Then everyone will see that I, the Eternal One, started the unquenchable fire!”

Ezekiel: ⁴⁹ Eternal Lord, they are all talking about me, saying, “He’s just speaking in parables.”

Eternal One: ² Son of man, look toward Jerusalem, and speak against My temple. Prophesy against the whole land of Israel, ³ and tell the land of Israel what the Eternal One says: “Pay attention. I am against you. I will draw My sword from its sheath and kill both the righteous and the wicked who live within your borders. ⁴ Because I am going to kill everyone, both good and evil, all flesh from south to north will feel the wrath of My sword! ⁵ Then everyone all over the world will know I, the Eternal One, have drawn My sword from its sheath and do not intend to return it.”

⁶ Now as for you, son of man, groan as if your heart is breaking. Groan in front of people because of your bitter agony! ⁷ When they see you, they will ask you, “Why all this loud and noisy groaning?” Answer them this way: “I am groaning because of the horrible news that is coming. Every heart will melt, every hand will fall limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will become as weak as water. So pay attention. The time is near! It is going to happen soon.”

Eternal One: ⁹ Son of man, prophesy, and tell them this message is from the Eternal.

Eternal One: ¹⁹ Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of Babylon’s king to take. Have both roads begin in the same place. Make a signpost, and put it at the fork in the road: ²⁰ one road leading the sword to Ammon and its capital, Rabbah; the other road leading to Judah and its fortified capital, Jerusalem. ²¹ The Babylonian king will stop at the fork in the road and look for a sign to see which way to go: he will shake the arrows and draw one, call to his household gods^[d] for advice, and examine an animal liver.

Eternal One: ²² He reads “Jerusalem” in his right hand, so he will march first in that direction with battering rams for the gates and a command to massacre the city, sounding war cries and building siege ramps and siege walls. ²³ Everyone in Jerusalem will believe the omen to be false because they had pledged loyalty to Babylon. But his actions will remind the doubters of their guilt, and they will be taken prisoners.

(to the Israelites) ²⁴ Because you have reminded Me of your sins and once again exposed your rebellious ways, making every wicked thing you ever did obvious, you will be forcefully taken prisoner. ²⁵ You are already dead, you wicked prince of Israel! Your hour has arrived! Your day of excruciating punishment has come! ²⁶ This is what the Eternal Lord says: “Remove your royal turban and crown. Everything is about to change: the lowly will be brought high, and the high will be brought low. ²⁷ Ruination! I will make a total ruin out of everything! It will remain in ruins until the one to whom it rightfully belongs arrives, and then I will hand it over to Him.”

²⁸ But you, son of man, must preach to them what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say about the Ammonites and their insults:

²⁹ “In spite of false prophesies and lying omens concerning you, the sword will slice the necks of the wicked. They are as good as dead. Their hour has come! Their day of punishment has arrived! ³⁰ Put the sword back in its sheath. In the place where you were conceived, in the land of your origin, I will judge you with My sword of judgment. ³¹ I will pour out My anger over your head, I will breathe fiery wrath on you, I will give you over to barbaric men (artists of destruction who love to mutilate and kill). ³² You will become coals for a fire; Babylonian blood will flood the land, and you will be forgotten! I, the Eternal, promise this.”

Eternal One: ² Son of man, will you judge this bloody city? Will you? You must! Confront her about her shocking actions, ³ and speak to her.

Eternal One: You are a city of bloodshed, and your ways will come back to haunt you. You are a city of idols, making them even though they defile you. ⁴ The blood you shed covers you with the heaviness of guilt. The idols you have made degraded your spirit. You have reached the end of your life, so I have made you an object of scorn to all the nations! ⁵ Those near and far will mock you—city of infamy and turmoil!

⁶ Look, the princes of Israel who reside in your walls use their political power to murder. ⁷ Infamous city of turmoil, your people mistreat their elders, disrespect their parents, take advantage of foreigners passing through, and treat orphans and widows with contempt. ⁸ In you My holy things are desecrated and My Sabbaths are profaned. ⁹ Your citizens lie and give false testimonies at capital trials, shedding innocent blood. Your people feast at lofty shrines devoted to false gods and commit lewd sexual acts. ¹⁰ In you men expose their fathers’ nakedness by having intercourse with their wives and engage in sexual relations with women who are impure because of their menstrual cycles. ¹¹ In you one man commits unspeakable things with his neighbor’s wife, while another practices incest with his daughter-in-law or half-sister. ¹² In you murder is for hire, exorbitant interests and profits are taken from the poor, neighbors are oppressed for personal gain; and in you I am forgotten.

¹³ I will strike My hands at your extortion and murderous ways. ¹⁴ Will you be courageous and strong when I come to deal with you? I, the Eternal One, will do what I’ve said I will do. ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you throughout unfamiliar lands! I will put an end to your impurity. ¹⁶ When you have been defiled in front of the nations, you will know that I am the Eternal.

Eternal One: ¹⁸ Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to Me; all of them are the dross metals—bronze, iron, tin, and lead—left inside a furnace after silver has been refined. ¹⁹ Therefore, I, the Eternal Lord, say to them, “Because you’ve become worthless dross, I will gather you up in the middle of Jerusalem. ^20-21 Just as men throw copper, iron, tin, lead, and silver into a furnace to melt the impurities away with fiery blasts, I will gather you inside My furnace called Jerusalem, and you will experience the fire of My wrath as it blows across and melts you inside that city! ²² Just as silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted in My city. Then you will know I, the Eternal One, have poured out the fire of My wrath upon you.”

Eternal One: ²⁴ Son of man, say to her, “You are a land plagued with drought during My wrath—[not a single drop of rain has fallen from the sky]^[e].” ²⁵ Her prophets^[f] conspire in her midst like raging lions killing their prey; they have destroyed lives, stolen treasures and other valuable things; they have made many wives widows all over the city. ²⁶ Her priests violate My laws and desecrate My holy things. They fail to distinguish between the sacred and profane. They no longer teach that there is a difference between pure and impure! They completely disregard My Sabbaths; as a result I am defamed among My people. ²⁷ Her princes and officials are like a pack of wolves tearing apart their prey. They kill innocent people and ruin lives just to get what they want! ²⁸ Her false prophets whitewash these wicked acts by claiming to receive divine visions, but they are all false! Their divination turns up only lies! They say, “This is what the Eternal Lord says . . . ,” when the Eternal Lord has not said anything to them at all. ²⁹ Her people are full of wickedness: they are bullies and thieves; they have abused the poor and helpless; they have taken advantage of foreigners and perverted justice. ³⁰ I searched for one man among them, a man who could build the wall and stand in the gap before Me and advocate for the land, a man who could convince Me not to destroy it; but I found no one. ³¹ Therefore, I will dump the fires of My fury on them, and the flames of My indignation will devour them. I will give them what they deserve.

Eternal One: ² Son of man, there were two women born of the same mother. ³ They became promiscuous in Egypt at a young age. Their breasts were fondled, and their virgin bodies were caressed. ⁴ The older sister was named Oholah, and her younger sister was named Oholibah. They married Me, and they gave birth to many sons and daughters.

Eternal One: ⁵ Oholah played the whore while she was still Mine. She coveted many lovers, lusting after her neighbors, the Assyrians— ⁶ sharply dressed in handsome blue, governors and commanders—all attractive young men mounted on great horses. ⁷ She offered herself as a prostitute to all of the fine Assyrian men and anyone who desired her. She degraded herself with the idols of her lovers. ⁸ She didn’t stop the promiscuity she began in Egypt, for when she was young she slept with men who caressed her virgin breasts and poured out their lust on her. ⁹ So I handed her over to those she loved, the Assyrians whom she desired. ¹⁰ They stripped her naked, stole her children, and slaughtered her during the war. So among women, her name became synonymous with disgrace, when they saw the punishment she received.

¹¹ Her younger sister, Oholibah, witnessed all that happened; yet Oholibah became more corrupt than her sister. Her wanton lust and prostitution were even worse than her sister’s. ¹² She was obsessed with the Assyrians, too, lusting after the elite—governors and commanders, sharply-dressed warriors—all attractive young men mounted atop great horses. ¹³ I saw how she degraded herself. Both she and her sister followed the same path, ¹⁴ but Oholibah’s path went further and she traveled longer. She added the Babylonians to her list of paramours. She was captivated by images of men painted on a wall: figures of Chaldeans dressed in red, ¹⁵ with expensive belts wrapped around their waists and flowing turbans adorning their heads. All of them looked highly distinguished, like Babylonian officers from the land of Chaldea. ¹⁶ As soon as her eyes met these portraits, she lusted after them. And so she sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians accepted her invitation and came into her bed of love, degrading her with their lust. When they had completely defiled her, she turned away from them in disgust. ¹⁸ Because she carried on her whoring so publicly and exposed herself to so many, I was repulsed by her just as I was her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she went deeper into prostitution when she remembered how she played the whore when she was young in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She lusted for lovers whose genitals were as large as a donkey’s and whose emissions were like a horse’s.

Eternal One: Pay attention! I am a moment away from handing you over to those whom you loathe, the ones whom you turned away from in disgust. ²⁹ They will treat you with hatred and rob you of your lot. They will rip off your clothes in public and leave you naked. The marks of your prostitution—your lewd, promiscuous life—will be apparent. ³⁰ You have brought this upon yourself because you played the whore with your neighboring nations, degraded yourself with profane images and breathless idols. ³¹ You have followed the same path as your sister; therefore, I will let you drink from her very own cup.

For I, the Eternal Lord, have spoken.

³⁵ Because you have forgotten Me and tossed Me over your shoulder like a piece of trash, you must reap the consequences of your promiscuities and prostitution.

³⁶ (to Ezekiel) Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? You must! Confront them about their shocking actions— ³⁷ the adulterous liaisons they commit with bloody hands, even sacrificing their sons and daughters, My children, as burnt offerings to breathless idols. ^38-39 Not only that, but they have also polluted My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths by sacrificing their children to the breathless idols on the same day they came into My house. This is what they did to Me and My house. This is how they profaned it.