Before thy wickedness is revealed, As at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Aram, And of all her neighbours, the daughters of the Philistines, Who are despising thee round about.

And it springeth up, and becometh a spreading vine, humble of stature, To turn its thin shoots toward itself, And its roots are under it, And it becometh a vine, and maketh boughs, And sendeth forth beauteous branches.

Say, I pray thee, to the rebellious house, Have ye not known what these are? Say, Lo, come hath the king of Babylon to Jerusalem, And he taketh its king, and its princes, And bringeth them to himself to Babylon.

And all his fugitives, with all his bands, By sword do fall, and those remaining, To every wind they are spread out, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, have spoken.

What -- to you, ye -- using this simile Concerning the ground of Israel, saying: Fathers do eat unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted?

Lo, all the souls are Mine, As the soul of the father, So also the soul of the son -- they are Mine, The soul that is sinning -- it doth die.

All his transgressions that he hath done Are not remembered to him, In his righteousness that he hath done he liveth.

And in the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity, According to all the abominations That the wicked hath done, he doth -- thus he liveth, All his righteousnesses that he hath done are not remembered, For his trespass that he hath trespassed, And for his sin that he hath sinned, For them he doth die.

And ye have said, Not pondered is the way of the Lord. Hear, I pray you, O house of Israel, My way -- is it not pondered? Are not your ways unpondered?

And the house of Israel have said, Not pondered is the way of the Lord, My ways -- are they not pondered? O house of Israel -- are not your ways unpondered?

Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To seek Me are ye coming in? I live -- I am not sought by you -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

And I do it for My name's sake, Not to pollute it before the eyes of the nations, In whose midst they are, Before whose eyes I became known to them, To bring them out from the land of Egypt.

And I say to their sons in the wilderness: In the statutes of your fathers ye walk not, And their judgments ye do not observe, And with their idols ye are not defiled.

And I say unto them: What is the high place whither ye are going in? And its name is called 'high place' to this day.

Therefore, say unto the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the way of your fathers are ye defiled? And after their detestable things go a-whoring?

And in the offering of your gifts, In causing your sons to pass through fire, Ye are defiled by all your idols to this day, And I am sought by you, O house of Israel! I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, I am not sought by you.

And that which is going up on your mind, It is not at all -- in that ye are saying: We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands, To serve wood and stone.

And ye, O house of Israel, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Each his idols -- go -- serve ye, And, afterwards, if ye are not hearkening to me, And My holy name ye do not pollute any more by your gifts, and by your idols.

And I say, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, They are saying of me, Is he not using similes?

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, In your transgressions being revealed, For your sins being seen, in all your doings, Because of your being remembered, By the hand ye are caught.

Doth thy heart stand -- are thy hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.

The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace -- dross hath silver been,

As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon you.'

Its princes in its midst are as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain.

And their names are Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names -- Samaria is Aholah, And Jerusalem is Aholibah.

And the voice of a multitude at ease is with her, And unto men of the common people are brought in Sabeans from the wilderness, And they put bracelets on their hands, And a beauteous crown on their heads.

As to righteous men, they judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, And the judgment of women shedding blood, For they are adulteresses, And blood is in their hands.

And the people say unto me, 'Dost thou not declare to us what these are to us, that thou art doing?'

And ye have done as I have done, On the upper lip ye are not covered, And bread of men ye do not eat.

And your bonnets are on your heads, And your shoes are on your feet, Ye do not mourn nor do ye weep, And ye have wasted away for your iniquities, And ye have howled one unto another.

To the sons of the east, with the sons of Ammon, And I have given it for a possession, So that the sons of Ammon are not remembered among nations.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the doings of Edom, In taking vengeance on the house of Judah, Yea, they are very guilty, And they have taken vengeance on them.

And her daughters who are in the field, by sword they are slain, And they have known that I am Jehovah,

Now they tremble, is it not the day of thy fall? Troubled have been the isles that are in the sea, at thine outgoing.

In the heart of the seas are thy borders, Thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

Inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad have been rowers to thee, Thy wise men, O Tyre, have been in thee, They are thy pilots.

The sons of Arvad, and thy force, Are on thy walls round about, And short swordsmen in thy towers have been, Their shields they have hung up on thy walls round about, They -- they have perfected thy beauty.

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech -- they are thy merchants, For persons of men, and vessels of brass, They have given out thy merchandise.

Sons of Dedan are thy merchants, Many isles are the mart of thy hand, Horns of ivory and ebony they sent back thy reward.

Judah and the land of Israel -- they are thy merchants, For wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, And honey, and oil, and balm, They have given out thy merchandise.

Arabia, and all princes of Kedar, They are the traders of thy hand, For lambs, and rams, and he-goats, In these thy merchants.

Merchants of Sheba and Raamah -- they are thy merchants, For the chief of all spices, And for every precious stone, and gold, They have given out thy remnants.

Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, merchants of Sheba, Asshur -- Chilmad -- are thy merchants,

They are thy merchants for perfect things, For wrappings of blue, and embroidery, And for treasuries of rich apparel, With cords bound and girded, for thy merchandise,

Ships of Tarshish are thy double walls of thy merchandise, And thou art filled and honoured greatly, In the heart of the seas.

Thy wealth and thy remnants, Thy merchandise, thy mariners, And thy pilots, strengtheners of thy breach, And the traders of thy merchandise, And all thy men of war, who are in thee, And in all thine assembly that is in thy midst, Fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall,

And I have made the land of Egypt a desolation, In the midst of desolate lands, And its cities, in the midst of waste cities, Are a desolation forty years, And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have dispersed them through lands.

And they have been desolated in the midst of desolate lands, And its cities are in the midst of wasted cities.

He and his people with him -- the terrible of nations, Are brought in to destroy the land, And they have drawn their swords against Egypt, And have filled the land with the wounded.

Therefore higher hath been his stature than all trees of the field, And multiplied are his boughs, and long are his branches, Because of many waters in his shooting forth,

Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that are in the garden of God.

And cut him off do strangers, The terrible of nations, and they leave him, On the mountains and in all valleys have his thin shoots fallen, And broken are his boughs at all streams of the land, And go down from his shade do all peoples of the land, and they leave him.

In order that none of the trees of the waters May become haughty because of their stature, Nor give their foliage between thickets, Nor any drinking waters stand up unto them in their haughtiness, For all of them are given up to death, Unto the earth -- the lower part, In the midst of the sons of men, Unto those going down to the pit.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of his going down to sheol I have caused mourning, I have covered for him the deep, and diminish its flowings, And restrained are many waters, And I make Lebanon black for him, And all trees of the field have been covered for him.

From the sound of his fall I have caused nations to shake, In My causing him to go down to sheol, With those going down to the pit, And comforted in the earth -- the lower part, are all trees of Eden, The choice and the good of Lebanon, All drinking waters.

And watered the land with thy flowing, From thy blood -- unto the mountains, And streams are filled from thee.

And I have made many peoples astonished at thee, And their kings are afraid at thee with trembling, In My brandishing My sword before their faces, And they have trembled every moment, Each for his life -- in the day of thy fall.

There is Asshur, and all her assembly, Round about him are his graves, All of them are wounded, who are falling by sword,

Whose graves are appointed in the sides of the pit, And her assembly is round about her grave, All of them wounded, falling by sword, Because they gave terror in the land of the living.

There is Elam, and all her multitude, Round about is her grave, All of them wounded, who are falling by sword, Who have gone down uncircumcised unto the earth -- the lower parts, Because they gave their terror in the land of the living, And they bear their shame with those going down to the pit.

In the midst of the wounded they have appointed a bed for her with all her multitude, Round about him are her graves, All of them uncircumcised, pierced of the sword, For their terror was given in the land of the living, And they bear their shame with those going down to the pit, In the midst of the pierced he hath been put.

There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude, Round about him are her graves, All of them uncircumcised, pierced of the sword, For they gave their terror in the land of the living,

And they lie not with the mighty, Who are falling of the uncircumcised, Who have gone down to sheol with their weapons of war, And they put their swords under their heads, And their iniquities are on their bones, For the terror of the mighty is in the land of the living.

There are princes of the north, All of them, and every Zidonian, Who have gone down with the pierced in their terror, Of their might they are ashamed, And they lie uncircumcised with the pierced of the sword, And they bear their shame with those going down to the pit.

And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Rightly ye have spoken, saying: Surely our transgressions and our sins are on us, And in them we are wasting away, How, then, do we live?

In My saying of the righteous: He surely liveth, And -- he hath trusted on his righteousness, And he hath done perversity, All his righteous acts are not remembered, And for his perversity that he hath done, For it he doth die.

Son of man, the inhabitants of these wastes on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying: Alone hath been Abraham -- and he possesseth the land, and we are many -- to us hath the land been given for a possession.

Thus dost thou say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I live -- do not they who are in the wastes by the sword fall? And they who are on the face of the field, To the beast I have given for food, And they who are in strongholds and in caves by pestilence die.

And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people who are speaking about thee, By the walls, and in openings of the houses, Have spoken one with another, each with his brother, Saying: Come in, I pray you, And hear what is the word that cometh out from Jehovah.

And they come in unto thee as the coming in of a people, And they sit before thee -- My people, And have heard thy words, and they do them not, For doting loves with their mouth they are making, After their dishonest gain their heart is going.

And lo, thou art to them as a singer of doting loves, A pleasant voice, and playing well on an instrument, And they have heard thy words, and they are not doing them.

And they are scattered from want of a shepherd, And are for food to every beast of the field, Yea, they are scattered.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am against the shepherds, And have required My flock from their hand, And caused them to cease from feeding the flock, And no more do the shepherds feed themselves, And I have delivered My flock from their mouth, And they are not to them for food.

And I have given safety to My flock, And they are not any more for prey, And I have judged between sheep and sheep.

And I have given them, and the suburbs of my hill, a blessing, And caused the shower to come down in its season, Showers of blessing they are.

And they are no more a prey to nations, And the beast of the earth devoureth them not, And they have dwelt confidently, And there is none troubling.

And I have raised for them a plant for renown, And they are no more consumed by hunger in the land, And they bear no more the shame of the nations.

And ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, Men ye are -- I am your God, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

Because of thy saying: The two nations and the two lands are mine, and we have possessed it, And Jehovah hath been there;

therefore, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because, even because, of desolating, And of swallowing you up from round about, For your being a possession to the remnant of the nations, And ye are taken up on the tip of the tongue, And are an evil report of the people.

Therefore, O mountains of Israel, Hear a word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovah, to mountains, and to hills, To streams, and to valleys, And to wastes that are desolate, And to cities that are forsaken, That have been for a prey, And for a scorn, to the remnant of the nations who are round about.

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I -- I have lifted up My hand, Do not -- the nations who are with you from round about -- they their own shame bear?

And I have multiplied on you men, All the house of Israel -- all of it, And the cities have been inhabited, And the wastes are built.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because they are saying to you: A devourer of men art thou, And a bereaver of thy nations thou hast been,

'Son of man, The house of Israel are dwelling on their land, And they defile it by their way and by their doings, As the uncleanness of a separated one hath their way been before Me.

And I scatter them among nations, And they are spread through lands, According to their way, and according to their doings, I have judged them.

And one goeth in unto the nations whither they have gone, And they pollute My holy name by saying to them, The people of Jehovah are these, And from His land they have gone forth.

And ye have remembered your ways that are evil, And your doings that are not good, And have been loathsome in your own faces, For your iniquities, and for your abominations.

And known have the nations who are left round about you, That I Jehovah have built the thrown down, I have planted the desolated: I Jehovah have spoken, and I have done it.

As a flock of holy ones, as a flock of Jerusalem, In her appointed seasons, So are the waste cities full of flocks of men, And they have known that I am Jehovah!'

and He causeth me to pass over by them, all round about, and lo, very many are on the face of the valley, and lo, very dry.

And I beheld, and lo, on them are sinews, and flesh hath come up, and cover them doth skin over above -- and spirit there is none in them.

And He saith unto me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; lo, they are saying: Dried up have our bones, And perished hath our hope, We have been cut off by ourselves.

And when sons of thy people speak unto thee, saying, Dost thou not declare to us what these are to thee?

And I have made them become one nation in the land, on mountains of Israel, And one king is to them all for king, And they are no more as two nations, Nor are they divided any more into two kingdoms again.

Nor are they defiled any more with their idols, And with their abominations, And with any of their transgressions, And I have saved them out of all their dwellings, In which they have sinned, And I have cleansed them, And they have been to Me for a people, And I -- I am to them for God.

Be prepared, yea, prepare for thee, Thou and all thine assemblies who are assembled unto thee, And thou hast been to them for a guard.

And thou hast said: I go up against a land of unwalled villages, I go in to those at rest, dwelling confidently, All of them are dwelling without walls, And bar and doors they have not.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in former days, By the hand of My servants, prophets of Israel, Who are prophesying in those days -- years, To bring thee in against them?

And rushed from My presence have fishes of the sea, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the field, And every creeping thing that is creeping on the ground, And all men who are on the face of the ground, And thrown down have been the mountains, And fallen have the ascents, And every wall to the earth falleth.