30Now say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Lord God: If you defile yourselves as your fathers did and go astray after their detestable things, 31and if to this very day you defile yourselves in the presentation of your gifts by making your children pass through the fire to all your fetishes, shall I respond to your inquiry, O House of Israel? As I live— declares the Lord GOD—I will not respond to you. 32And what you have in mind shall never come to pass—when you say, “We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, worshiping wood and stone.” 33As I live—declares the Lord GOD—I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with overflowing fury. 34With a strong hand and an outstretched arm and overflowing fury I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, 35and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples; and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you—declares the Lord GOD. 37I will make you pass under the shepherd’s staff,h and I will bring you into the bondi of the covenant. 38I will remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me; I will take them out of the countries where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
39As for you, O House of Israel, thus said the Lord GOD: Go, every one of you, and worship his fetishes and continue,i if you will not obey Me; but do not profane My holy name any more with your idolatrous gifts. 40For only on My holy mountain, on the lofty mount of Israel— declares the Lord GOD—there, in the land, the entire House of Israel, all of it, must worship Me. There I will accept them, and there I will take note of your contributions and the choicest offerings of all your sacred things. 41When I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you are scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing odor; and I will be sanctified through you in the sight of the nations. 42Then, when I have brought you to the land of Israel, to the country that I sworeb to give to your fathers, you shall know that I am the LORD. 43There you will recall your ways and all the acts by which you defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils that you committed. 44Then, O House of Israel, you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for My name’s sake—not in accordance with your evil ways and corrupt acts—declares the Lord GOD.
21 The word of the LORD came to me: 2O mortal, set your face toward Teman,a and proclaim to Darom,a and prophesy against the brushland of the Negeb.a 3Say to the brushland of the Negeb: Hear the word of the LORD. Thus said the Lord God: I am going to kindle a fire in you, which shall devour every tree of yours, both green and withered. Its leaping flame shall not go out, and every face from south to north shall be scorched by it. 4Then all flesh shall recognize that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not go out. 5And I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me: He is just a riddlemonger.”
6Then the word of the LORD came to me: 7O mortal, set your face toward Jerusalem and proclaim against her sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel. 8Say to the land of Israel: Thus said the Lord: I am going to deal with you! I will draw My sword from its sheath, and I will wipe out from you both the righteous and the wicked. 9In order to wipe out from you both the righteous and the wicked, My sword shall assuredly be unsheathed against all flesh from south to north; 10and all flesh shall know that I the LORD have drawn My sword from its sheath, not to be sheathed again.
11And you, O mortal, sigh; with tottering limbs and bitter grief, sigh before their eyes. 12And when they ask you, “Why do you sigh?” answer, “Because of the tidings that have come.” Every heart shall sink and all hands hang nerveless; every spirit shall grow faint and all knees turn to water because of the tidings that have come. It is approaching, it shall come to pass—declares the Lord GOD.
13The word of the LORD came to me: 14O mortal, prophesy and say: Thus said the Lord GOD: A sword! A sword has been whetted and polished. 15It has been whetted to wreak slaughter; b-[therefore] it has been ground to a brilliant polish.-b c-How can we rejoice? My son, it scorns-c the rod and every stick. 16It has been given to be polished and then grasped in the hand; for this has the sword been whetted, for this polished—to be put into the hand of a slayer. 17Cry and wail, O mortal, for this shall befall My people, this shall befall all the chieftains of Israel: they shall be cast before the sword together with My people; oh, strike the thigh [in grief]. 18c-Consider: How shall it fail to happen, seeing that it even scorns the rod?-c—says the Lord GOD.
19Further, O mortal, prophesy, striking hand against hand. Let the sword strike a second time and yet a third time; it is a sword for massacre, a sword for great carnage, that pressesc upon them. 20Thus hearts shall lose courage and many shall fall. At all their gates I have appointed slaughterc by the sword. Ah! it is made to flash brilliantly, it is honedc for slaughter. 21Be united,d go to the right, turn left; whither are you bound? 22I, too, will strike hand against hand and will satisfy My fury upon you; I the LORD have spoken.
23The word of the LORD came to me: 24And you, O mortal, choose two roads on which the sword of the king of Babylon may advance, both issuing from the same country; and select a spot, select it where roads branch off to [two] cities. 25Choose a way for the sword to advance on Rabbah of the Ammonites or on fortified Jerusalem in Judah. 26For the king of Babylon has stood at the fork of the road, where two roads branch off, to perform divination: He has shaken arrows, consulted teraphim, and inspected the liver.e 27In his right hand came up the omen against Jerusalem—to set battering rams, to proclaim murder, to raise battle shouts, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to erect towers.
28fIn their eyes, the oaths they had sworn to them were like empty divination; but this shall serve to recall their guilt, for which they shall be taken to task. 29Assuredly, thus said the Lord God: For causing your guilt to be recalled, your transgressions to be uncovered, and your sins to be revealed—all your misdeeds—because you have brought yourselves to [My] mind, you shall be taken to task.
30And to you, O dishonored wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come—the time set for your punishment—31thus said the Lord God: Remove the turban and lift off the crown! This shall not remain as it is; exalt the low and abase the high. 32Ruin, an utter ruin I will make it. e-It shall be no more-e until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs; and I will give it to him.
33Further, O mortal, prophesy and say: Thus said the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and their blasphemies: Proclaim: O sword! O sword unsheathed for slaughter, polished to the utmost, to a flashing brilliance! 34Because they have prophesied falsely about you and have divined deceitfully concerning you, you shall be wielded over the necks of the dishonored wicked ones, for their day has come, the time c-set for their punishment.-c
35g-Return it to its sheath!-g In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. 36I will pour out My indignation upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath; and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarians, craftsmen of destruction. 37You shall be fuel for the fire, your blood shall sink into the earth, you shall not be remembered, for I the LORD have spoken.
22 The word of the LORD came to me: 2Further, O mortal, a-arraign, arraign-a the city of bloodshed; declare to her all her abhorrent deeds! 3Say: Thus said the Lord GOD: O city in whose midst blood is shed, so that your hour is approaching; within which fetishes are made, so that you have become unclean! 4You stand guilty of the blood you have shed, defiled by the
