Then He said to me,“ Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have revolted against Me to this very day.

他对我说：“人子啊，我差你往悖逆的国民以色列人那里去。他们是悖逆我的，他们和他们的列祖违背我，直到今日。

他对我说：“人子啊，我差你往悖逆我的国家，以色列人那里去，他们是悖逆我的。他们和他们的祖先违背我，直到今日。

他对我说：“人子啊，我差你往悖逆我的国家，以色列人那里去，他们是悖逆我的。他们和他们的祖先违背我，直到今日。

“人子啊，我派你去那背叛我的以色列人那里。他们和他们的祖先至今仍背叛我。

他对我说：“人子啊！我差派你到以色列人那里去，就是到那背叛我的叛逆国民那里去！他们和他们的列祖都得罪了我，直到今日。

他對我說：「人子啊，我差你往悖逆的國民以色列人那裏去。他們是悖逆我的，他們和他們的列祖違背我，直到今日。

他對我說：「人子啊，我差你往悖逆我的國家，以色列人那裏去，他們是悖逆我的。他們和他們的祖先違背我，直到今日。

他對我說：「人子啊，我差你往悖逆我的國家，以色列人那裏去，他們是悖逆我的。他們和他們的祖先違背我，直到今日。

「人子啊，我派你去那背叛我的以色列人那裡。他們和他們的祖先至今仍背叛我。

他對我說：“人子啊！我差派你到以色列人那裡去，就是到那背叛我的叛逆國民那裡去！他們和他們的列祖都得罪了我，直到今日。

他對我說：『人子啊，我差遣你去找背叛之國以色列人，就是背叛我的：他們和他們的列祖都悖逆了我、直到今天這日子。

人子歟、我遣爾詣以色列人、彼乃悖逆之邦、悖逆乎我、彼與列祖、獲罪於我、迄至今日、

曰、人子、我遣汝至以色列族、彼所行忤逆、自列祖迄今、干犯罪戾、

諭我曰、人子、我遣爾就以色列人、即悖逆之族、悖逆我者、彼與其列祖獲罪於我、迄於今日、

He said:“ Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.

He said,“ Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. That nation has refused to obey me. They have turned against me. They and their people of long ago have been against me to this day.

And he said to me,“ Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.

“ Son of man,” he said,“ I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day.

He said to me,“ Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this day.

And He said to me:“ Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day.

He said to me:“ Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against Me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against Me to this day.

And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me,[ even] unto this very day.

He said to me,“ Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, to rebellious nations who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day.

He said to me,“ Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

And the Lord said to Samuel,“ Listen to the voice of the people regarding all that they say to you, because they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day— in that they have abandoned Me and served other gods— so they are doing to you as well.

You have been rebellious toward the Lord since the day I knew you.

we have sinned, we have done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land.“ Righteousness belongs to You, Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day— to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.Open shame belongs to us, Lord, to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, because we have rebelled against Him;and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.Indeed, all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.So He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem.Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our wrongdoing and giving attention to Your truth.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,“ Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said,“ Here am I. Send me!”And He said,“ Go, and tell this people:‘ Keep on listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”

The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,“ Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. They prostituted themselves in their youth; there their breasts were squeezed and there their virgin breasts were handled.Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.“ Oholah prostituted herself while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors,who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses.She bestowed her obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.She did not abandon her obscene practices from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her.Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.“ Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were more than the prostitution of her sister.She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men.And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way.So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans drawn in bright red,wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.And when she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.And the Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.She exposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister in disgust.Yet she multiplied her obscene practices, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt.She lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses.So you longed for the outrageous sin of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.“ Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says:‘ Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.And they will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs.I will set My jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire.They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewelry.So I will remove from you your outrageous sin and your prostitution that you brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not raise your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’For this is what the Lord God says:‘ Behold, I am going to hand you over to those whom you hate, to those from whom you turned away in disgust.They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, both your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.These things will be done to you because you have adulterously pursued the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’This is what the Lord God says:‘ You will drink your sister’s cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; Because it contains much.You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, A cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.And you will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw on its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God.Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:‘ Because you have forgotten Me and discarded Me behind your back, suffer on your own part the punishment for your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.’ ”Moreover, the Lord said to me,“ Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to them as food.Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths.For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.“ Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came— for whom you bathed, put makeup on your eyes, and adorned yourselves with jewelry;and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged in front of it on which you had set My incense and My oil.And the sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and heavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put bracelets on the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.“ Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries,‘ Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’But they went in to her as they would go in to a prostitute. This is how they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.But they, righteous people, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.“ For this is what the Lord God says:‘ Bring up a contingent against them and turn them over to terror and plunder.The contingent will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit outrageous sin as you have done.Your outrageous conduct will be repaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord came to an end.Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, born of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the Lord against Israel.

Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not turn Your attention to the stubbornness of this people, or to their wickedness, or their sin.

They also followed Baal peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.

Then He said to me,“ Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel,nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to the people who understand you;yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. The entire house of Israel certainly is stubborn and obstinate.Behold, I have made your face just as hard as their faces, and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads.

“ This is what the Lord says:‘ Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, and I will relent of the disaster which I am planning to inflict on them because of the evil of their deeds.’And you shall say to them,‘ This is what the Lord says:“ If you do not listen to Me, to walk in My Law which I have set before you,to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened;then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

“ But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in mercy; And You did not abandon them.Even when they made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said,‘ This is your god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,

and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them,“ Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written:“ How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our wrongful deeds we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to open shame, as it is this day.

and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.You are witnesses of these things.

And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine growers.And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty handed.And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.

“ You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

“ Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

So Jesus said to them again,“ Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”And when He had said this, He breathed on them and* said to them,“ Receive the Holy Spirit.

Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy.

However, You are righteous in everything that has happened to us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.For our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.But they, in their own kingdom, With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You placed before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went badly for Moses on their account.Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.They did not destroy the peoples, As the Lord had commanded them,But they got involved with the nations And learned their practices,And served their idols, Which became a snare to them.They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was defiled with the blood.So they became unclean in their practices, And were unfaithful in their deeds.Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people, And He loathed His inheritance.

When they became envious of Moses in the camp, And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And engulfed the company of Abiram.And a fire blazed up in their company; The flame consumed the wicked.They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped a cast metal image.So they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,

Then you are to say to them,‘ It is because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord,‘ and have followed other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law.You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.

“ But they became rebellious and revolted against You, And threw Your Law behind their backs And killed Your prophets who had admonished them In order to bring them back to You, And they committed great blasphemies.

But the Lord said to me,“ Do not say,‘ I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak.

“ From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,saying,‘ Turn now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;and do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will do you no harm.’Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord,“ in order to provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,and say,‘ This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem:“ Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths.No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.“ When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood,‘ Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood,‘ Live!’I made you very numerous, like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.“ Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God.“ Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil.I also clothed you with colorfully woven cloth and put sandals of fine leather on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.I adorned you with jewelry, put bracelets on your wrists, and a necklace around your neck.I also put a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and colorfully woven cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.Then your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.“ But you trusted in your beauty and became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your obscene practices on every passer by to whom it might be tempting.You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors, and committed prostitution on them, which should not come about nor happen.You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images so that you might commit prostitution with them.Then you took your colorfully woven cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them.Also My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,” declares the Lord God.“ Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter?You slaughtered My children and offered them to idols by making them pass through the fire.And besides all your abominations and obscene practices, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood.“ Then it came about after all your wickedness(‘ Woe, woe to you!’ declares the Lord God),that you built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every public square.You built yourself a high place at the beginning of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer by and multiplied your obscene practice.You also committed prostitution with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your obscene practice to provoke Me to anger.So behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and cut back your rations. And I turned you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your outrageous conduct.Moreover, you committed prostitution with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you committed prostitution with them and still were not satisfied.You also multiplied your obscene practice with the land of merchants, Chaldea; yet even with this you were not satisfied.” ’ ”“ How feverish is your heart,” declares the Lord God,“ while you do all these things, the action of a bold prostitute!When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, in spurning a prostitute’s fee, you were not like a prostitute.You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers and lavish favors on them so that they will come to you from every direction for your obscene practices.So it is the opposite for you from those women in your obscene practices, in that you are not approached for prostitution, and in the fact that you pay a prostitute’s fee, and no fee is paid to you; so you are the opposite.”Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord.This is what the Lord God says:“ Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your obscene practices with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to idols,therefore, behold, I am going to gather all your lovers whom you pleased, all those whom you loved as well as all those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness.So I will judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.I will also hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare.They will incite a crowd against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.And they will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. Then I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay your lovers.So I will satisfy My fury against you and My jealousy will leave you, and I will be pacified and no longer be angry.Since you have not remembered the days of your youth but have caused Me unrest by all these things, behold, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head,” declares the Lord God,“ so that you will not commit this outrageous sin in addition to all your other abominations.“ Behold, everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you, saying,‘ Like mother, like daughter.’You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.Yet you have not merely walked in their ways and committed their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you also acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they.As I live,” declares the Lord God,“ Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done!Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.So they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. So you have made your sisters appear innocent by all your abominations which you have committed.Also, bear your disgrace in that you have made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear innocent.“ Nevertheless, I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and along with them your own fortunes,so that you will bear your disgrace and feel ashamed for all that you have done when you become a consolation to them.Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state.As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride,before your wickedness was uncovered, so now you have become the disgrace of the daughters of Edom and of all who are around her, of the daughters of the Philistines— those surrounding you who despise you.You have suffered the penalty of your outrageous sin and abominations,” the Lord declares.For this is what the Lord God says:“ I will also do with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.“ Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.So I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord,so that you may remember and be ashamed, and not open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares.

“ Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say,‘ Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’ ”

“ As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land, did the Lord not remember them, and did all of this not come into His mind?

Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they practiced divination and interpreting omens, and gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him.So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His sight; no one was left except the tribe of Judah.Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they followed the customs which Israel had introduced.So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me.Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them,‘ This is what the Lord God says:“ Do you yourselves come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares the Lord God,“ I certainly will not be inquired of by you.” ’Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Make known to them the abominations of their fathers;and say to them,‘ This is what the Lord God says:“ On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,on that day I swore to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all the lands.And I said to them,‘ Throw away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not throw away, each of them, the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt.“ Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to use up My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.But I acted for the sake of My name, that it would not be defiled in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them.Also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, so that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; and they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be defiled before the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had brought them out.Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all the lands,because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they also profaned My Sabbaths, because their heart continually followed their idols.Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not bring about their annihilation in the wilderness.“ Instead, I said to their children in the wilderness,‘ Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and follow them.Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to follow My ordinances which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to use up My anger against them in the wilderness.But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be defiled in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands,because they had not complied with My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers.I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they could not live;and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they made all their firstborn pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the Lord.” ’“ Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them,‘ This is what the Lord God says:“ Again, in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by being disloyal to Me.When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every tree thick with branches, and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings.Then I said to them,‘ What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.” ’Therefore, say to the house of Israel,‘ This is what the Lord God says:“ Will you defile yourselves in the way of your fathers and adulterously pursue their detestable things?And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live,” declares the Lord God,“ I certainly will not be inquired of by you.And whatever comes into your mind certainly will not come about, when you say:‘ We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, serving wood and stone.’“ As I live,” declares the Lord God,“ with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I assuredly shall be king over you.I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out;and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord God.“ I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;and I will purge from you the rebels and those who revolt against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside, but they will not enter the land of Israel. So you will know that I am the Lord.“ As for you, house of Israel,” this is what the Lord God says:“ Go, serve, everyone of you his idols; but later you will certainly listen to Me, and My holy name you will no longer defile with your gifts and your idols.For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares the Lord God,“ there the entire house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will demand your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things.As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will show Myself to be holy among you in the sight of the nations.And you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers.And there you will remember your ways and all your deeds by which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done.Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you in behalf of My name, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’ ”Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ Son of man, set your face toward the south, and speak prophetically against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev,and say to the forest of the Negev,‘ Hear the word of the Lord: this is what the Lord God says:“ Behold, I am going to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not go out and the entire surface from south to north will be scorched by it.And all mankind will see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it will not go out.” ’ ”Then I said,“ Oh, Lord God! They are saying of me,‘ Is he not just speaking in riddles?’ ”