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¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“What do you people mean by using this proverb about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt’?

³As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “you certainly are not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.

⁴Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

⁵“But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,

⁶if he does not eat at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period—

⁷and if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

⁸and if he does not lend money at interest or take interest, if he keeps his hand from injustice and executes true justice between one person and another,

⁹if he walks in My statutes and keeps My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will certainly live,” declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁰“However, he may father a violent son who sheds blood, and does any one of these things to a brother

¹¹(though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife,

¹²oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but raises his eyes to the idols and commits abomination,

¹³lends money at interest and takes interest; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he shall certainly be put to death; his blood will be on himself.

¹⁴“Now behold, he has fathered a son who saw all his father’s sins which he committed, but he has seen them and does not do likewise.

¹⁵He does not eat at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he has not defiled his neighbor’s wife,

¹⁶nor oppressed anyone, nor retained a pledge, nor committed robbery; instead, he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

¹⁷he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take any kind of interest on loans, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s guilt, he will certainly live.

¹⁸As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his guilt.

¹⁹“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall certainly live.

²⁰The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

²¹“But if the wicked person turns from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

²²All his offenses which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live.

²³Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he would turn from his ways and live?

²⁴“But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness, commits injustice and does according to all the abominations that the wicked person does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.

²⁵Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?

²⁶When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness, commits injustice and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has committed he dies.

²⁷But when a wicked person turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.

²⁸Since he understood and turned away from all his offenses which he had committed, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

²⁹But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

³⁰“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your offenses, so that wrongdoing does not become a stumbling block to you.

³¹Hurl away from you all your offenses which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, house of Israel?

³²For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live!”

¹“As for you, take up a song of mourning for the leaders of Israel

²and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She raised her cubs.

³When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a young lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.

⁴Then nations heard about him; He was caught in their trap, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt.

⁵When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs And made him a young lion.

⁶And he walked about among the lions, He became a young lion; He learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.

⁷He destroyed their palaces And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.

⁸Then nations set against him On every side from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was caught in their trap.

⁹They put him in a wooden collar with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would no longer be heard On the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and thick with branches Because of abundant waters.

¹¹And it had strong stems fit for scepters of rulers, And its height was raised above the clouds So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.

¹²But it was uprooted in fury; It was thrown down to the ground; And the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong stem was torn out So that it withered; The fire consumed it.

¹³And now it is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴And fire has gone out from its stem; It has consumed its shoots and fruit, So that there is no strong stem in it, A scepter to rule.’ ” This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.

¹Now 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.

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

³“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.” ’

⁴Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Make known to them the abominations of their fathers;

⁵and 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,

⁶on 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.

⁷And 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.’

⁸But 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.

⁹But 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.

¹⁰So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them.

¹²Also 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.

¹³But 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.

¹⁴But 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.

¹⁵Also 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,

¹⁶because 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.

¹⁷Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not bring about their annihilation in the wilderness.

¹⁸“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.

¹⁹I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and follow them.

²⁰Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

²¹But 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.

²²But 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.

²³Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands,

²⁴because 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.

²⁵I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they could not live;

²⁶and 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.” ’

²⁷“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.

²⁸When 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.

²⁹Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.” ’

³⁰Therefore, 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?

³¹And 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.

³²And 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.’

³³“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.

³⁴I 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;

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

³⁶Just 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.

³⁷“I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

³⁸and 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.

³⁹“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.

⁴⁰For 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.

⁴¹As 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.

⁴²And 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.

⁴³And 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.

⁴⁴Then 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.’ ”

⁴⁵Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁴⁶“Son of man, set your face toward the south, and speak prophetically against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev,

⁴⁷and 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.

⁴⁸And all mankind will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not go out.” ’ ”

⁴⁹Then I said, “Oh, Lord GOD! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just speaking in riddles?’ ”