"Son of Man," he said, "I've appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me.

When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.

I've assigned you to sleep this way for 390 days, representing the years they've been sinning, as you bear symbolically the punishment of the house of Israel.

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

"Okay," he responded. "I'll allow you to substitute cow's dung for human dung. Cook your food over that."

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

For this cause fathers will take their sons for food among you, and sons will make a meal of their fathers; and I will be judge among you, and all the rest of you I will send away to every wind.

A third of you will come to death from disease, wasting away among you through need of food; a third will be put to the sword round about you; and a third I will send away to every wind, letting loose a sword after them.

and you must say, 'Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: "Look, I [am] bringing upon you [the] sword, and I will destroy your high places,

And they shall know that I am Jehovah; not in vain spake I to do to them this evil.

"And you, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: '[The] end comes, the end on the four corners of the land.

Your time is up! I'm sending my anger against you to judge you according to how you live your lives, and I'm going to pay you back with the consequences of all your detestable practices.

And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.

You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord.

This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel.

Son of man Thine own brethren, thine own brethren the men of thy kindred, even all the house of Israel all of it are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far away from Yahweh, To us, it is that the land, hath been given, for a possession!

"Therefore you are to say, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Although I've removed them far away to live among the nations, and although I've scattered them throughout the earth, yet I've continued to be their sanctuary, even for the short time that they will be living in the lands to which they've gone."'

In the morning came the word of Yahweh to me, saying,

My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.

And you must say to the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land of Israel: "They will eat their food with anxiety and their water they will drink with horror, because their land will be desolate from its fullness because of all the violence of {those who are dwelling in it}.

Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.

Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit [claiming to have seen things] but have [in fact] seen nothing.

They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

And I will have your veils violently parted in two, and will make my people free from your hands, and they will no longer be in your power for you to go after them; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

Because with falsehood ye have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, to save his life:

Son of man, these men have taken their false gods into their hearts and put before their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall: am I to give ear when they come to me for directions?

and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth [were] from the land of the Canaanites, your father [was] an Amorite, and your mother [was] a Hittite.

No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were loathed on the day that you were born.

"""When I passed by you, I saw you kicking around, covered in your own blood. That's when I told you, "Live!' while you were wallowing in your blood. I commanded you to live, even as you lay there in your own blood.

I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.

"When I passed by you again, I looked at you, and noticed that it was your proper time for love. I spread my cloak over you to cover your nakedness. I made a solemn promise to you and entered into a covenant with you," declares the Lord GOD. "You belong to me.

And it cometh to pass, after all thy wickedness, (Woe, woe, to thee -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah),

See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary [food], and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

And you are different from other [unfaithful] women in your promiscuity, in that no one follows you to lure you into prostitution, and because you give money and no money is given you; in this way you are different.”

And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords.

They will burn down your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women (Gentile nations). Then I will make you cease your prostitution, and you will no longer hire your lovers.

So I will calm My wrath toward you and My jealousy [resulting from being denied what is rightfully and uniquely mine] will turn away from you; I will be pacified and no longer angry.

It wasn't just that you lived like they did and committed their detestable practices, but in just a little while your behavior led you to become more corrupt than they were!"

All his best fighting-men will be put to the sword, and the rest will be sent away to every wind: and you will be certain that I the Lord have said it.

What occasion have ye, to be using this proverb, concerning the so of Israel, saying, - Fathers eat sour grapes, And the children's teeth are blunted?

{As I live}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be {appropriate for you} to quote this proverb in Israel!

They put a wooden yoke on him with hooks
and led him away to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into the fortresses
so his roar could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.

And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Son of man, Speak thou with the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus, saith My Lord. Yahweh, To enquire of me, are ye coming in. As I live, very I will no be enquired of by you, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

Then I said to them, ‘Let every man throw away the detestable things on which he feasts his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’

And My sabbaths sanctify, And they have been for a sign between Me and you, To know that I, Jehovah, am your God.

When you present your sacrifices -- when you make your sons pass through the fire -- you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me!

Then I will bring you to the desert of the peoples, and I will execute justice on you there face to face.

And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:

And ye have known that I am Jehovah, In My bringing you to the ground of Israel, Unto the land that I did lift up My hand To give it to your fathers,

Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

"Make a sign, carving it out and installing it at the junction on the way to the city. Set it to point one way for bringing the sword against Rabbah, the descendants of Ammon, and the other way against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.

At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

And you, son of man, prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the {Ammonites} and concerning their disgrace,' and you must say, 'A sword, a sword [is] drawn for slaughtering; [it is] polished for holding, {for flashing like lightning},

while they (Ammonite prophets) see false visions [of peace] for you, while they divine lies [of escape] for you—to place you [of Ammon] on the headless bodies of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, whose time of the final punishment is here.

Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

Slanderous men are {among you} to shed blood, and they, {among you}, eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you.

They take bribes among you to shed blood. You've taken usury and exacted interest. You've gained control over your neighbor through extortion. And you've forgotten me," declares the Lord GOD.

I'm going to disperse you among the nations and scatter you to other lands. I'm going to put an end to your uncleanness.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because all of you have become [as] silver dross, therefore look! I [am] gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem,

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

And she even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a servant was sent, and they came: for whom she was washing her body and painting her eyes and making herself fair with ornaments.

Then said I to her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit lewd deeds with her, and she with them?

Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.

In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.

And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?

and you must say to the {Ammonites}, 'Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because of your saying, 'Ah!' to my sanctuary when it was profaned, and to the land of Israel when it was desolate, and to the house of Judah when they went into the exile,

therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and will hand you over as prey and spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you. Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre, "Will not the coastlands shake from the sound of your downfall, at [the] groaning of the wounded, {at people being killed} in the midst of you?

And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

And I will bring you down with [those who are] going down to the grave, {an ancient people}, and I will cause you to dwell in the world of [the] depths, in the ruins from of old with [those who are] going down to [the] grave, so that you will not be inhabited and {have a place} in [the] land of [the] living.

I will bring terrors on you and you will be no more. Though you will be sought, yet you will never be found again,” says the Lord God.

“The elders of Gebal and its skilled and wise men were with you, repairing your leaks;
All the ships of the sea with their mariners were with you to deal in your merchandise.

“Your heart was proud and arrogant because of your beauty;
You destroyed your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I lay you before kings,
That they might look at you.

“You profaned your sanctuaries
By the great quantity of your sins and the enormity of your guilt,
By the unrighteousness of your trade.
Therefore I have brought forth a fire from your midst;
It has consumed you,
And I have reduced you to ashes on the earth
In the sight of all who look at you.

And I will fling you [to] the desert, you and all the fish of your Nile streams. On the surface of the field you will fall; you will not be gathered, and you will not be assembled. To the animals of the field and to the birds of the heavens I will give you as food.

“In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will enable you to speak out among them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wail ye, Wo to the day!

‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and with forest shade,
And of high stature,
With its top among the clouds.

I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.

Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: You take your meat with the blood, your eyes are lifted up to your images, and you are takers of life: are you to have the land for your heritage?

You put your faith in your swords, you do disgusting things, everyone takes his neighbour's wife: are you to have the land for your heritage?

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

"Woe to you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves and not the sheep. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep? You're eating the best parts, clothing yourselves with the wool, and slaughtering the home-grown sheep without having fed the sheep!

Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

" 'Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: "Look! I, even I will judge between fat sheep and between lean sheep,

therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will hand you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you since you have not hated bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.

For this cause be a prophet, and say, This is what the Lord has said: Because, even because they have been glad over you and put you to shame on every side, because you have become a heritage for the rest of the nations, and you are taken up on the lips of talkers and in the evil talk of the people:

Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh; thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the river channels and to the valleys and to the ruins that [are] desolate and to the cities that [are] abandoned [and] that have become as plunder and as scorn for the remainder of the nations that [are] from all around.

and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.