And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

Son of man, what is this simile to you, concerning the land of Israel, saying, Prolonged are the days, and perished hath every vision?

therefore say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have caused this simile to cease, And they use it not as a simile again in Israel, But speak to them: Drawn near have the days, And spoken hath every vision.

For there is no more any vain vision, and flattering divination, In the midst of the house of Israel.

For I am Jehovah, I speak, The word that I speak -- it is done, It is not prolonged any more, For, in your days, O rebellious house, I speak a word, and I have done it, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

Son of man, lo, the house of Israel are saying, The vision that he is seeing is for many days, and of times far off he is prophesying,

therefore say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: None of my words are prolonged any more, When I speak a word -- it is done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

As foxes in the wastes, Thy prophets, O Israel, have been.

Because, even because, they did cause My people to err, Saying, Peace! and there is no peace, And that one is building a wall, And lo, they are daubing it with chalk.

And lo, fallen hath the wall! Doth not one say unto you, Where is the daubing that ye daubed?

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have rent with a tempestuous wind in My fury, And an overflowing shower is in Mine anger, And hailstones in My fury -- to consume.

And I have completed My wrath on the wall, And on those daubing it with chalk, And I say to you: The wall is not, And those daubing it are not;

The prophets of Israel who are prophesying concerning Jerusalem, And who are seeing for her a vision of peace, And there is no peace, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

Because of paining the heart of the righteous with falsehood, And I have not pained it, And strengthening the hands of the wicked, So as not to turn back from his evil way, To keep him alive,

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

for every one of the house of Israel, and of the sojourners who doth sojourn in Israel, who is separated from after Me, and doth cause his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath come in unto the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, have answered him for Myself;

And the prophet, when he is enticed, and hath spoken a word -- I, Jehovah, I have enticed that prophet, and have stretched out My hand against him, and have destroyed him from the midst of My people Israel.

And they have borne their iniquity: as the iniquity of the inquirer, so is the iniquity of the prophet;

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

these three men in its midst: I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah -- neither sons nor daughters do they deliver; they alone are delivered, and the land is a desolation.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

'Son of man, What is the vine-tree more than any tree? The vine-branch that hath been, Among trees of the forest?

Is wood taken from it to use for work? Do they take of it a pin to hang any vessel on it?

Lo, to the fire it hath been given for fuel, Its two ends hath the fire eaten, And its midst hath been scorched! Is it profitable for work?

Lo, in its being perfect it is not used for work, How much less, when fire hath eaten of it, And it is scorched, Hath it been used yet for work?

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among trees of the forest, That I have given to the fire for fuel, So I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

As to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, Thou -- thy navel hath not been cut, And in water thou wast not washed for ease, And thou hast not been salted at all, And thou hast not been swaddled at all.

A myriad -- as the shoot of the field I have made thee, And thou art multiplied, and art great, And comest in with an excellent adornment, Breasts have been formed, and thy hair hath grown -- And thou, naked and bare!

And I pass over by thee, and I see thee, And lo, thy time is a time of loves, And I spread My skirt over thee, And I cover thy nakedness, And I swear to thee, and come in to a covenant with thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And thou dost become Mine.

And thou dost put on gold and silver, And thy clothing is fine linen, And figured silk and embroidery, Fine flour, and honey, and oil thou hast eaten, And thou art very very beautiful, And dost go prosperously to the kingdom.

And go forth doth thy name among nations, Because of thy beauty -- for it is complete, In My honour that I have set upon thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

And thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer by -- to him it is.

And My bread, that I gave to thee, Fine flour, and oil, and honey, that I caused thee to eat. Thou hast even set it before them, For a sweet fragrance -- thus it is, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

And thou dost take thy sons and thy daughters Whom thou hast born to Me, And dost sacrifice them to them for food. Is it a little thing because of thy whoredoms,

How weak is thy heart, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, In thy doing all these, The work of a domineering whorish woman.

In thy building thine arch at the head of every way, Thy high place thou hast made in every broad place, And -- hast not been as a whore deriding a gift.

And the contrary is in thee from women in thy whoredoms, That after thee none doth go a-whoring; And in thy giving a gift, And a gift hath not been given to thee; And thou art become contrary.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy brass being poured forth, And thy nakedness is revealed in thy whoredoms near thy lovers, And near all the idols of thy abominations, And according to the blood of thy sons, Whom thou hast given to them;

Lo, every one using a simile, Doth use a simile concerning thee, saying: As the mother -- her daughter!

Thy mother's daughter thou art, Loathing her husband and her sons, And thy sisters' sister thou art, Who loathed their husbands and their sons, Your mother is a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, Who is dwelling at thy left hand, And thy younger sister, who is dwelling on thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

And -- in their ways thou hast not walked, And according to their abominations done, As a little thing it hath been loathed, And thou dost more corruptly than they in all thy ways.

I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done -- she and her daughters -- As thou hast done -- thou and thy daughters.

As to Samaria, as the half of thy sins -- she hath not sinned, And thou dost multiply thine abominations more than they, And dost justify thy sisters by all thy abominations that thou hast done.

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.

For thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have dealt with thee as thou hast done, In that thou hast despised an oath -- to break covenant.

So that thou dost remember, And thou hast been ashamed, And there is not to thee any more an opening of the mouth because of thy shame, In My receiving atonement for thee, For all that thou hast done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

'Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use a simile unto the house of Israel,

And there is another great eagle, Great-winged, and abounding with feathers, And lo, this vine hath bent its roots toward him, And its thin shoots it hath sent out toward him, To water it from the furrows of its planting,

On a good field, by many waters, it is planted, To make branches, and to bear fruit, To be for an goodly vine.

Say: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: It prospereth -- its roots doth he not draw out, And its fruit cut off, and it is withered? In all the leaves of its springing it withereth, And not by great strength, and by a numerous people, To lift it up by its roots.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

And he rebelleth against him, To send his messengers to Egypt, To give to him horses, and much people, Doth he prosper? doth he escape who is doing these things? And hath he broken covenant and escaped?

I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Doth he not -- in the place of the king who is causing him to reign, Whose oath he hath despised, And whose covenant he hath broken, With him -- in the midst of Babylon -- die?

'And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Ye have no more the use of this simile in Israel.

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.

And a man, when he is righteous, And hath done judgment and righteousness,

In My statutes he doth walk, And My judgments he hath kept -- to deal truly, Righteous is he, he surely liveth, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

In usury he hath given, and increase taken, And he liveth: he doth not live, All these abominations he hath done, He doth surely die, his blood is on him.

His father -- because he used oppression, Did violently Plunder a brother, And that which is not good did in the midst of his people, And lo, he is dying in his iniquity.

The soul that doth sin -- it doth die. A son doth not bear of the iniquity of the father, And a father doth not bear of the iniquity of the son, The righteousness of the righteous is on him, And the wickedness of the wicked is on him.

Do I at all desire the death of the wicked? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Is it not in his turning back from his way -- And he hath lived?

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?

In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity, And he is dying by them, for his perversity That he hath done he dieth.

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?

Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Turn ye back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block,

and thou hast said: What is thy mother? -- a lioness, Among lions she hath crouched down, In the midst of young lions she hath multiplied her whelps.

And it knoweth his forsaken habitations, And their cities it hath laid waste, And desolate is the land and its fulness, Because of the voice of his roaring.

And they put it in prison -- in chains, And they bring it unto the king of Babylon, They bring it in unto bulwarks, So that its voice is not heard any more On mountains of Israel.

Thy mother is as a vine in thy blood by waters planted, Fruitful and full of boughs it hath been, Because of many waters.

And it hath strong rods for sceptres of rulers, And high is its stature above thick branches, And it appeareth in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.

And it is plucked up in fury, To the earth it hath been cast, And the east wind hath dried up its fruit, Broken and withered hath been the rod of its strength, Fire hath consumed it.

And now -- it is planted in a wilderness, In a land dry and thirsty.

And go forth doth fire from a rod of its boughs, Its fruit it hath devoured, And it hath no rod of strength -- a sceptre to rule, Lamentation it is -- and it is for a lamentation!'

and there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

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.

And I do it for My name's sake, Not to pollute it before the eyes of the nations, Before whose eyes I brought them forth.

And also, I, I have lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, Not to bring them in to the land that I had given, Flowing with milk and honey, A beauty it is to all the lands,

Because against My judgments they did kick, And in My statutes they have not walked, And My sabbaths they have polluted, For after their idols their heart is going.

And I have turned back My hand, And I do it for My name's sake, Not to pollute it before the eyes of the nations, Before whose eyes I brought them out.

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.

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.

As I was judged with your fathers, In the wilderness of the land of Egypt, So I am judged with you, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

and thou hast said to the forest of the south: Hear a word of Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am kindling in thee a fire, And it hath devoured in thee every moist tree, and every dry tree, Not quenched is the glowing flames, And burnt by it have been all faces from south to north.

And seen have all flesh, that I, Jehovah, have kindled it -- it is not quenched.'

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

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

and it hath come to pass, when they say unto thee, For what art thou sighing? that thou hast said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And melted hath every heart, And feeble hath been all hands, And weak is every spirit, And all knees go -- waters, Lo, it is coming, yea, it hath been, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

'Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said, Thus said Jehovah, say: A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.

So as to slaughter a slaughter it is sharpened. So as to have brightness it is polished, Desire hath rejoiced the sceptre of my son, It is despising every tree.

And he giveth it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened -- the sword -- and polished, To give it into the hand of a slayer.

Cry and howl, son of man, For it hath been among My people, It is among all the princes of Israel, Cast unto the sword have been My people. Therefore strike on thy thigh,