Son of man, say to the responsible men of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Have you come to get directions from me? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no directions from me.

In that day I did lift up My hand to them, To bring them forth from the land of Egypt, Unto a land that I spied out for them, Flowing with milk and honey, A beauty it is to all the lands,

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.

So I made them leave the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.

Yet I would not do it, for my name's sake: lest it should be dishonored before the Heathen, from the which I had carried them away.

Because they were turned away from my orders, and were not guided by my rules, and had no respect for my Sabbaths: for their hearts went after their images.

Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

Yet I withdrew My hand and acted for My Name’s sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the [pagan] nations in whose sight I had brought them out [of slavery].

Because they had not done my orders, but had been turned away from my rules, and had not given respect to my Sabbaths, and their eyes were turned to the images of their fathers.

And when you give your offerings, causing your sons to go through the fire, you make yourselves unclean with all your images to this day; and will you come to me for directions, O children of Israel? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no direction from me.

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."'"

And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

And you, O house of Israel, so says the Lord Jehovah: Every man go and serve his idols, and do so from now on if you will not listen to Me. But never again defile My holy name with your gifts and with your idols.

I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.

This message came to me from the LORD:

And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

This message came to me from the LORD:

And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It doth not turn back any more.

This message came to me from the LORD:

One firm stroke to the right. Turn to the left,- Whithersoever thine edge is directed,

This message came to me from the LORD:

And thou, son of man, appoint for thee two ways, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; from one land they come forth, both of them, and a station prepare thou, at the top of the way of the city prepare it.

Go back into your cover. In the place where you were made, in the land from which you were taken, I will be your judge.

This message came to me from the LORD:

You are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.

Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [a percentage of] profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression and extortion, and you have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.

I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your uncleanness from you.

This message came to me from the LORD:

"Son of Man, Israel has become like dross to me. All of them are like remnants of bronze, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace the dross left over from smelting silver.

Indeed, I'm going to gather you together and exhale the fire of my fury, and then you'll be melted from the inside out

like melting silver at the center of a furnace. When you've been melted from the center out, then you'll know that I am the LORD. I'll pour out my anger on you.'"

This message came to me from the LORD:

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

The people of the land have been acting cruelly, taking men's goods by force; they have been hard on the poor and those in need, and have done wrong to the man from a strange land.

Then sought I from among them, a man Who could bud up a wall And stand in the breach before me in behalf of the land So that I might not destroy her, - But I found none.

This message came to me from the LORD:

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

And she will give her whoredoms upon them from the choice of the sons of Assur all of them, and with all whom she desired; being defiled with all their blocks.

Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.

Girded with waistbands around their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looked like chariot officers, similar to the Babylonians from Chaldea, where they had been born.

"She lusted after them when she saw them, so she sent messengers to summon them from Chaldea.

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.

So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.

Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;

And they will come against you [with] an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd of peoples; they will set [themselves] against you [from] all around [with] large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give {before them} judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments.

I'll expend my jealousy on you so they'll deal with you in anger. They'll cut off your noses and your ears. Your survivors will die violently. They'll take your sons and daughters away from you, but your survivors will be incinerated.

Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:

This is what the Lord has said: You will take a drink from your sister's cup, which is deep and wide: you will be laughed at and looked down on, more than you are able to undergo.

but you'll drink from it and drain it completely. As for the vessel, you'll break it to pieces and you'll tear at your breasts, for I've spoken,' declares the Lord GOD.

And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

For this is what the Lord has said: I will make a great meeting of the people come together against her, and will send on her shaking fear and take everything from her.

And I have caused wickedness to cease from the land, And instructed have been all the women, And they do not according to your wickedness.

In the ninth year, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, this message came to me from the LORD:

Take the best bones from the flock, pile wood under the pot for the bones, bring it to a boil, and then cook the bones in it."'"

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe [to] the city of bloodguilt! A pot that [has] its rust in it; {its rust did not go out from it}. Bring it out {piece by piece}; {one is as good as another}.

It has tried my patience; yet its thick rot is not removed from it. Subject its rot to the fire!

In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

This message came to me from the LORD:

Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

So I responded, "This message came to me from the LORD:

Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,

This message came to me from the LORD:

Tell the Ammonites: "Listen to a message from the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you have said, "Aha!' about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it became desolate, and about the households of Judah when they went into exile,

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.

Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,

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.

This is what the Lord has said: Because Edom has taken his payment from the people of Judah, and has done great wrong in taking payment from them;

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.

I will take payment from Edom because of my people Israel; and I will take Edom in hand in my wrath and in my passion: and they will have experience of my reward, says the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul, to destroy, from old hatred;

And I will take great payment from them with acts of wrath; and they will be certain that I am the Lord when I send my punishment on them.

During the eleventh year, on the first day of the month of our captivity, this message came to me from the LORD:

And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.

From the abundance of his horses cover thee doth their dust, From the noise of horseman, and wheel, and rider, Shake do thy walls, in his coming in to thy gates, As the coming into a city broken-up.

Also they will take your riches as spoil and plunder your merchandise, and tear down your walls and your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timber and the debris [from your city] out in the water.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: Do not -- from the noise of thy fall, In the groaning of the wounded, In the slaying of the slaughter in thy midst, The isles shake?

Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How hast thou perished, that wast inhabited from the seas, O renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all them that dwell therein!

"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!'

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.

This message came to me from the LORD:

They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim.

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvan were your rowers; your {skilled men}, O Tyre, were {from your own people}, [and] they [were] your seamen.

The wise men and elders from Gebal accompanied you, serving as ship's carpenters. All the maritime navies and their seaman also accompanied you to assist you in doing business internationally."

"Soldiers from Persia, Lud, and Libya, served in your army. They were your mighty soldiers. Their helmets and shields adorned your barracks walls, and they won battle decorations for you.

Mercenaries from Arvad and Helech stood guard duty on your walls, while brave men manned your towers. They hung their shields all around your walls just the right touch to perfect your interior decorating!"

" 'Tarshish [was] your trader; from [the] abundance of all of [their] wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise.

Javan, Tubal and Meshech, they thy merchants: they gave from thy traffic in the soul of man, and vessels of brass.