"Son of Man, I'm sending you to that rebellious people, the Israelis, who have rebelled against me the same way their ancestors did. And they're still rebels to this very day!

But when I speak with you, I'll open your mouth so you can say to them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "As for those who will listen, "Let them listen,' but as for those who refuse, "Let them refuse,' since they're a rebellious group."'"

I'm also going to turn you into a waste and an object of insult among the nations that surround you and in front of every person who passes by.

I'll leave a remnant among you those who will escape the sword when I'll have scattered you throughout the earth.

The one who lives far away will die by pestilence and the one who is near will die violently. The survivors and their surveillance details will die by famine as I exhaust my rage against them.

""Your doom has come to you, you who live in the land. The time has arrived, and the day of confusion is near. There will be no shouts of joy on the mountains.

I'll give it as plunder into the control of strangers and as the spoils of war to the wicked who will invade the land to profane it.

Therefore, I'm bringing the worst of the nations, who will take possession of their houses. I'll cause the pride of the mighty to cease, and their sanctuaries will be profaned.

All of a sudden, I noticed six men approaching from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north. Each of them held a destructive weapon in his hand. Among them there was one man, clothed in linen, who was equipped with a writing set at his side. They went in and presented themselves beside the bronze altar.

Then the glory that is Israel's God arose from the cherubim on which he had been seated and settled on the threshold of the Temple. He called out to the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case at his side.

The LORD told him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of everyone who sighs and moans over all of the loathsome things that are happening in it."

You are to execute old men, young men, young women, little children, and women. But don't touch anyone who has been marked. Begin at my Holy Place!" And so they started with the elders who were in standing in front of the Temple.

Then I noticed the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case by his side as he brought back this message: "I've done as you have commanded me."

The LORD spoke to the man who was clothed in white linen, telling him, "Go between the whirling wheels, under the cherubim, and fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim. Then scatter them over the city." So he entered as I watched.

He issued this order to the man who was clothed in white linen: "Take fire from within the whirling wheels, among the cherubim." So he went and stood beside the wheels.

Then a cherub stretched out his hand to the fire, which was among the cherubim, took some of the fire, and placed it in the hands of the one clothed in white linen, who took it and left.

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east facing gate of the LORD's Temple. At the entrance of the gate I saw 25 men. Included among them were Azzur's son Jaazaniah and Benaiah's son Pelatiah, who were princes of the people.

"Son of Man, your brothers, your other relatives, your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel are the people to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "They've abandoned the LORD. This land was given to us for an inheritance.'"

Then the prince, who will be one of them, will carry his luggage on his shoulder in the dark and will go out. They'll dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. His face will be covered so that he won't be able to see the land with his eyes.

I'll scatter every attendant who surrounds him, along with his entire army, to every wind. When I unsheathe my sword to pursue them,

Then tell the people of the land, "This is what the LORD says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to Israel's land: "They'll eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in trepidation, because their land will be desolate in its entirety due to all the violence committed by all who live in it.

"Son of Man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who even now are prophesying, and tell those prophets that keep on prophesying according to what they wish would happen, "Listen to what the LORD says.'"

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for the false prophets who walk according to their own wrong inclinations and see nothing.

My hand will oppose the prophets who see false visions and speak deceptive divinations. They won't be included with the council of my people, nor will they be entered into the registry of Israel's house or enter Israel's land. Then you'll know that I am the Lord GOD,

"When someone builds a wall, they coat it with whitewash. Tell those who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. It will be washed off by the rain. Great hailstones will fall and a stormy wind will strip it off.

""That's how I'll vent my anger on the wall and on the ones who coated it with whitewash. And I'll say to you, "The wall is gone and so are those who coated it."

"And now, Son of Man, turn toward and oppose the women of your people who prophesy according to their own wrong inclinations and prophesy against them.

Tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for those women who sew magical bracelets on all their wrists and make one-size-fits all headbands, in order to entrap their souls. Will you hunt for the souls of my people and remain alive?

You've profaned me among my people for a handful of barley and a morsel of bread. You're causing people to die who shouldn't have to die, and you're causing people to live who shouldn't survive, when you deceive my people who tend to listen to lies."

""Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says, "Watch out! I'm opposing your amulets with which you hunt souls as one would swat at a flying insect. I'll tear them off your arms and then deliver those people, whom you've hunted like birds.

"""Because you've dismayed the heart of the righteous whom I never intended to dismay with lies, and because you've encouraged the wicked so that he wouldn't abandon his evil behavior and by doing so live,

Therefore, speak up and tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Every person from Israel's house who follows his idols and sets the stumbling block that is his own sin in front of his face, and then consults a prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to how many idols he embraces.

I'll do this in order to capture the hearts of Israel's house who have become alienated from me due to all of their idols."'"

They'll bear the consequences of their guilt, and the prophet will be just as guilty as the one who seeks that prophet's guidance.

But look! There will be a remnant who escapes, a few sons and daughters to be brought out. Look! They'll come out to you and you'll see how they've lived and what they've done, and you'll be comforted concerning the catastrophe that I brought on Jerusalem, including everything that I brought against her.

"But you trusted in your beauty. You did what whores do, as a result of your fame. You passed out your sexual favors to anyone who passed by, giving yourself to anyone.

"Then you took your sons and daughters whom you bore for me and sacrificed them for your idols to eat. As though your prostitutions were an insignificant thing,

At every street corner you made your beauty abhorrent when you made yourself available for sex to anyone who was passing by. By doing this, you kept on committing more and more immorality.

"Therefore, look out! I've reached out to oppose you. I withdrew your rations and delivered you to those Philistine women who hate you. Even they were embarrassed at your wicked ways!

who commits adultery, preferring a stranger over her husband!

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because your lust has been poured out and your nakedness has been uncovered by your acts of fornication with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your sons, whom you offered to them,

therefore, watch out! I'm about to gather all your lovers from whom you've received your pleasure, everyone whom you've loved, and those whom you've hated. I'll gather them together to oppose you from every side, and they'll uncover your nakedness in their presence. Then they'll see you completely naked.

I'll judge you with the same standards by which I issue verdicts against a woman who commits adultery and murder. I'll avenge the blood you've shed with impassioned wrath.

"Now, everyone who likes proverbs will quote this proverb about you, "Like mother, like daughter.'

You're the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You're the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children.

"Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite. Your elder sister was Samaria. She and her daughters lived in the north, while your younger sister who lived in the south with her daughters was Sodom.

before your wickedness was revealed. Now you've become an object of derision to the inhabitants of Aram and its neighbors, including the Philistines all those around you who despise you.

But he rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his messengers to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Or will the one who did this escape? Will he break the covenant, but still be delivered?'"

Look! Every living soul belongs to me the father's as well as the son's. So pay attention! The person who keeps on sinning is going to die."

if he doesn't oppress anyone, but instead returns the debtor's security for his debt, if he doesn't rob anyone, but instead shares his food with the hungry and gives clothes to those who are naked,

"Now suppose that person produces a son who's violent, a murderer, and practices any of these things,

even though the father hasn't done any of these things. The son who eats at mountain shrines, defiles his neighbor's wife,

"Now suppose that he produced a son who practiced all of his father's sins, but then that son began to fear me and stopped doing all of these things.

doesn't oppress anyone, doesn't take possession of a debtor's pledge, or doesn't steal, but instead shares his food with the hungry, gives clothes to those who are naked,

The soul who sins dies. The son won't bear the punishment of his father's sin and the father won't bear the punishment of his son's sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him.

I don't take pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the LORD. "So repent, so you may live!"

I did this so my reputation might not be tarnished among the nations where they were living, among whom I made myself known in their presence when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Also, I instituted my Sabbath for them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the LORD, who has set them apart."

The thing that you're imagining is never going to happen, since you're thinking, "We'll be like the nations, like the clans of other lands who serve gods made from wood and stone."'"

I'll eliminate the rebels among you, along with those who are transgressing against me. I'll bring them out of the land where you've lived, but they won't be able to enter the land of Israel. Then you'll know that I am the LORD."

Then everyone will know that I am the LORD, who unsheathed my sword, and who won't have to unsheathe it again."'

"Cry and wail, you Son of Man! It's headed against my people. It's also against all the princes of Israel, who have been tossed to the sword, along with my people. So it's time to grieve like you mean it,

so that their hearts melt and the number of those who stumble increase. I've set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates. Oh, no! It's made like lightning. It's drawn to slaughter.

A ruin! A ruin! I'm bringing about ruin!' But this also will not happen until he who has authority over it arrives, because I'll give it to him."

When they see empty visions about you while they're divining lies for you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked, who are fatally wounded, whose days have come, their time for punishment.

I'm going to pour out my indignation all over you. I'll blow my fierce wrath against you and deliver you into the control of brutal men who are skilled at destruction.

Those who are both near and far away from you will scoff at you, because your reputation will be infamous and full of turmoil.

They've revealed the nakedness of their father in your midst. They've humiliated those among you who were unclean due to their impurity.

"Son of Man, here are two sisters who are daughters from the same mother.

who were clothed in blue including governors and commanders. All of them were desirable young men horsemen mounted on horses.

Therefore, I turned her over to the control of her lovers, that is, into the control of the Assyrians for whom she lusted.

"She became even more sexually immoral when she saw the images of the Chaldean men who had been carved in red on their walls.

"Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look! I'm about to stir up your lovers against you, the ones from whom you've turned away in disgust. I'm going to bring them against you from every direction

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm about to turn you over to the control of those you hate, to the control of those from whom you turned away in disgust.

Righteous men will judge them with punishments fit for adulterers and for those who shed blood, because they're adulterers with blood on their hands."

"Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look! I'm about to profane my sanctuary, the source of your proud strength, the desire of your eyes, and the object of your affection. Your sons and daughters, whom you've left behind, will die by the sword.

"And now, Son of Man, on the day that I take their strength, joy, and glory from them, those whom they love to watch, the focus of their affection their sons and daughters

therefore you'd better look out! I'm going to turn you over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. They will set up military encampments and permanent places in which to live among you, and then they'll eat your fruit and drink your milk.

therefore you'd better watch out! I'm raising a clenched fist in your direction! I'm about to feed you to the surrounding nations as war plunder. I'm going to eliminate you as a nation and kill off those of you who survive to live in other countries. I'm going to destroy you, and that's how you'll learn that I am the LORD.'"

I'm going to turn these cities over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. As a result, Ammon will be forgotten as a nation.

Furthermore, her citizens who live on the mainland will be executed with swords. That's how they'll learn that I am the LORD.'"

He'll execute your citizens who live on the mainland with swords. He'll build siege engines to attack you. Then he'll construct siege ramps against you and build huge shields to protect themselves against you.

"This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: "When your wounded citizens groan while the slaughter takes place among you, the people who live in the coastlands will tremble in terror as they hear about your fall, will they not?

They'll sing this mourning song for you: "How lost you are, you inhabited city, that was built in the middle of the sea! How famous you were! How strong on the sea! She and her inhabitants inflicted terror to everyone who lived within her."

"Now the coastland inhabitants will tremble on the day that you fall. The coastland inhabitants, who make their living from the sea, will be terrified when you pass away!'

I'll make sure that you go straight to the Pit, into the lowest part of the earth, where you'll be with people who lived in ancient times. You'll keep company there with the dead, who have gone into the Pit. As a result, your city won't be inhabited. Meanwhile, I will display my glory in the land of the living.

Tell Tyre, who lives at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, who serves as the international merchant to many coastal districts: "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Tyre, you've been claiming, "I am beauty perfected.'

Everyone who handles an oar will abandon ship, they'll head straight for dry land,

In the depth of their despair they'll compose a lament for you. This is what they'll say: "Who is like Tyre? Who is so silent in the midst of the sea?'

Everyone who lives by the sea is appalled at your destruction. Their leaders are terrified their faces reflect their fears!

Is that when you'll say, "I'm God' to the face of those who will be killing you? After all, you're a man, and have never been a god, especially when you're under the control of those who will defile you!

Everyone who knows you throughout all the nations will be appalled at your calamity and you will no longer exist forever."'"

Another message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

"When I gather the house of Israel from the nations to which I've scattered them, I will show them my holiness before the watching world, and they will live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live in safety in the land, building houses and planting vineyards. They'll live in safety while I judge everyone who maligns them among those who surround them. At that time they'll learn that I am the LORD their God.'"

In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, a message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

"Because this is what the LORD says: "At the end of 40 years I'll gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they have been scattered.

On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our captivity, a message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

Another message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

"Ethiopia, Libya, descendants of Lud, all those who have mixed themselves, and Libya along with everyone in the land of Israel who is in league with them will die violently."'"

"This is what the LORD says: "Those who are supporting Egypt will fall; her majestic strength that she brought from the Aswan fortress will collapse by the sword that invades her,' declares the Lord GOD.