People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood. You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors. You have forgotten Me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice.

I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for [the sake of] the land, that I would not destroy it, but I found no one [not even one].

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

who acted like prostitutes in Egypt, behaving promiscuously in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin nipples caressed.

And Oholah prostituted [herself] {while she was still mine}, and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria [who was] nearby,

who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.

Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

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

And she will desire after their paramours, whom the flesh of asses their flesh, and the flowing of horses their flowing.

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 shall come against you with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, who shall set against you buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I commit set judgment unto them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

I will set My jealous indignation against you [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and they will deal with you in fury. They will remove your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and the survivors will be devoured by the fire.

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:

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 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,

The sound of a carefree crowd was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of a common sort, who put bracelets on the hands of the women (both sisters) and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she [with them].

But they committed adultery with her as they would with a prostitute. So they went in to Oholah (Israel) and to Oholibah (Judah), the lewd women.

And they, righteous men, will judge and condemn them with the judgment (punishment) of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

Wherefore, thus sayeth the LORD God: O woe be unto that bloodthirsty city, for whom I will prepare a heap of wood.

Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.

So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; in accordance with all that he has done you will do. And when this [destruction of the temple] comes, then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.’”

"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

that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?

On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be mute. In this way you shall be a sign to them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”

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.

I will make Rabbah [your chief city] a pasture for camels and [the cities of] the Ammonites a resting place for flocks [of sheep]. And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

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.”

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.

Thus I will execute judgment and punishment on Moab, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill the Cherethites and destroy those who remain on the seacoast.

Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she who was the doorway of the peoples is broken; she is turned over to them; she who was full is made waste;

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

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.

By reason of the multitude of his horses, their dust shall cover thee, - At the noise of horseman and wheel and chariot, shall thy walls tremble, when he entereth into thy gates Just as they do who enter a city broken open.

"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?

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!'

then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit (the place of the dead), to the people of old, and I will make you [Tyre] live in the depths of the earth, like the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory and splendor in the land of the living.

and say to Tyre, who lives at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord God,

“O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’

The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy rowers; thy wise men, O Tyre, who were in thee, were thy pilots.

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,

“All who handle the oar,
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
Will come down from their ships;
They will stand on the shore,

And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee,'saying , Who is there like Tyre, like her that is brought to silence 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!

Those who trade among the peoples
mock you;
you have become an object of horror
and will never exist again.”

They shall bring you down to the pit; and you shall die the death of those who are slain, in the heart of the seas.

Dost thou really say, 'I am God,' Before him who is slaying thee? And thou art man, and not God, In the hand of him who is piercing thee.

Your death will be the death of those who are without circumcision, by the hands of men from strange lands: for I have said it, says the Lord.

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, who sealest up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,

Thou art an anointed cherub who is covering, And I have set thee in the holy mount, God thou hast been, In the midst of stones of fire thou hast walked up and down.

“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.

“All the peoples (nations) who knew you
Are appalled at you;
You have come to a horrible and terrifying end
And will forever cease to be.”’”

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

“For I will send virulent disease to her
And blood into her streets,
And the wounded will fall in her midst
By the sword upon her from every side,
And they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

And there will no longer be a briar or a painful thorn to prick the house of Israel from all those around them who treated them with contempt; then they will know [with clarity] that I am the Lord God.”

Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

They shall live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgment on all those around them who despise them. Then they will know [with clarity and confidence] 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:

Speak, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt! The great dragon that is crouching in the midst of his floods, Who hath said, My flood is my own, And I -- I have made it for myself.

“And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.

and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine and I have made it,’

‘For thus says the Lord God, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they were scattered.

And Egypt will never again have the confidence of the house of Israel; their wickedness will be remembered whenever Israel looks toward them [for help]. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.”’”

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:

Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seizing its spoil and taking its plunder. This will be his army’s compensation.

“In that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord [when I renew their strength].”

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

Ethiopia (Cush), Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya (Cub) and the people of the land of the covenant [the Jews who had taken refuge in Egypt] will fall with the Egyptians by the sword.”

‘Thus says the Lord,
“Those who uphold and support Egypt will fall
And the pride of her power will come down;
From Migdol [in the north] to Syene [in the south]
They will fall within her by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.

“And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are shattered and destroyed.

“And I will make the rivers [of the Nile delta] dry
And sell the land into the hands of evil men;
I will make the land desolate
And all that is in it,
By the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken.”

“In this way I will bring judgment and punishment on Egypt.
Then they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword in his hand. But I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of one who is stabbed.

But I will strengthen and hold up the arms of the king of Babylon and the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then the people [of Egypt] will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.

When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the lands, then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”

Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

I turned it over to the leader of those nations, who dealt with it thoroughly. I have driven it away because of its wickedness.

And men from strange lands, who are to be feared among the nations, after cutting him off, have let him be: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches have come down; his arms are broken by all the waterways of the land; all the peoples of the earth have gone from his shade, and have let him be.

so that none of the trees by the waters may exalt themselves because of their height, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand [arrogantly] in their height. For they have all been handed over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit (the grave).”

I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, will be comforted in the earth beneath [at Assyria’s downfall].

They also went down to Sheol with it to those who were slain by the sword; those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.

To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

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

And I will aggrieve the heart of many peoples,- when I bring them who are broken off from thee among the nations, unto lands which thou hast not known.

I'm going to make your gangs die using the weapons of valiant warriors, all of whom are ruthless people. "They will devastate the majesty of Egypt, destroying all of its hordes.

“When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
And the country is stripped and deprived of all that which filled it,
When I strike all those who live in it,
Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt and cast them down, both her and the daughters of the powerful and majestic nations, to the nether world (the place of the dead), with those who go down to the pit;

Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.

They will fall among those who are slain by the sword. She (Egypt) is handed over to the sword; they have drawn her and all her hordes away [to judgment].

The strong among the mighty rulers will say of him (Pharaoh) and his allies from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down [defeated]; they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

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 set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it; they are all uncircumcised (barbaric, boorish, crude), slain by the sword (for their terror had been spread in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were laid among the slain.

There, are Meshech-Tuba and all her multitude, Round about it, are her graves, - All of them I uncircumcised Who were thrust through with the sword, For that they made themselves a terror in the land of the living;

And they lie not with the mighty, that are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war; and whose swords are laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

But you will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and you will lie [without honors] with those who are slain by the sword.