I made you (Israel) multiply like plants [which grow] in the field, and you grew up and became tall and you reached the age for [wearing] fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.

Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign Lord.

“But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, and you poured out your immoralities on every [willing] passer-by and your beauty was his [as you worshiped the idols of the Gentile nations].

You took some of your clothes and made for yourself [decorated] high places and shrines of various colors and prostituted yourself on them—things which should never have come about and taken place.

You also took your beautiful jewels and beautiful vessels made of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men so that you could prostitute yourself with them;

Also My bread which I gave you, [made from the] fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you even offered it before idols [no better than cow dung] as a sweet and soothing aroma; so it happened,” says the Lord God.

And thou wilt take thy sons and thy daughters which thou didst bear to me, and thou wilt sacrifice them for these to eat From thy fornication is it small?

Thou hast committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, which had much flesh: and thus hast thou used thine whoredom to anger me.

Behold, I will stretch out mine hand over thee, and will diminish thy store of food, and deliver thee over into the wiles of the Philistines thine enemies, which are ashamed of thy abominable way.

And you went with the Assyrians, because of your desire which was without measure; you were acting like a loose woman with them, and still you had not enough.

But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

This is what the Lord has said: Because your unclean behaviour was let loose and your body uncovered in your loose ways with your lovers and with your disgusting images, and for the blood of your children which you gave to them;

I'll judge you with the same standards by which I issue verdicts against a woman who commits adultery and murder. I'll avenge the blood you've shed with impassioned wrath.

Yea, they shall bring the common people upon thee, which shall stone thee, and slay thee down with their swords.

Thou art even thy mother's own daughter, that hath cast off her husband and her children. Yea, thou art the sister of thy sisters, which forsook their husbands and their children. Your mother is a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

Still you have not gone in their ways or done the disgusting things which they have done; but, as if that was only a little thing, you have gone deeper in evil than they in all your ways.

Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, but you have greatly increased your repulsive acts more than they. So you have made your [wicked] sisters [Samaria and Sodom] appear righteous and justified by [comparison to] all the disgusting things which you have done.

Also bear your disgrace [as punishment], having made judgment favorable for your sisters, for [you virtually absolved them] because of your sins in which you behaved more repulsively than they; they are more in the right than you. Yes, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you made your [pagan] sisters seem righteous.

So that thou shalt bear thy shame, and thou wert made ashamed of all which thou didst in thy comforting them.

Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

So that thou shalt remember, and thou wert ashamed, and there shall no more be to thee an opening of the mouth from the face of thy shame in my expiating for thee for all which thou didst, says the Lord Jehovah.

Say to them: 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'A great eagle with broad wings, long feathers, with full plumage which was multi-hued, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.

But there was another Eagle, a great one, which had great wings and many feathers: and behold, the roots of this vine had a hunger after him, and spread out his branches toward him, to water his fruits.

so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.

I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if not in the place the king making him king which he despised his oath, and which he broke his covenant with him, in the midst of Babel he shall die.

And so the Lord has said, By my life, truly, for my oath which he put on one side, and my agreement which has been broken, I will send punishment on his head.

My net will be stretched out over him, and he will be taken in my cords, and I will send him to Babylon, and there I will be his judge for the wrong which he has done against me.

But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,

“Now behold, if this [wicked] man has a son who has observed all the sins which his father committed, and considers [thoughtfully what he has observed] and does not do like his father:

As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his sin.

“Yet do you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s sin?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and has done them, he shall certainly live.

The soul which does sin will be put to death: the son will not be made responsible for the evil-doing of the father, or the father for the evil-doing of the son; the righteousness of the upright will be on himself, and the evil-doing of the evil-doer on himself.

“But if the wicked man turns [away] from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

All of his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced [for his moral and spiritual integrity in every area and relationship], he will live.

Could I take delight, in the death of the lawless? Demandeth My Lord. Yahweh. Must it not be in his turning from his ways in which case he shall live?

“But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits sin and acts in accordance with all the repulsive things that the wicked man does, will he live? All of his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered because of the treachery that he has committed and for his sin which he has committed; for them he shall die.

When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die.

Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.

Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed [against Me], and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, O house of Israel?

Which went among the lions, and became a fierce lion: learned to spoil, and to devour folk:

So they bound him with chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: which put him in prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

‘And the fire [of Zedekiah’s rebellion] has gone out from its branch;
It has consumed the vine’s shoots and fruit,
So that it has in it no [longer a] strong branch
As a scepter to rule.’”

This is a dirge (funeral poem to be sung), and has become a dirge.

In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month [after the beginning of the exile in Babylon], certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat down before me.

On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

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.’

But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not throw away the detestable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they give up the idols of Egypt.

“Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

I gave them My statutes and explained My ordinances to them, which, if a man keeps, he will live.

I gave them also my holy days, to be a token betwixt me and them, and thereby to know that I am the LORD which halloweth them.

But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they despised and rejected My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; and they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate 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.

I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, [a land of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament and glory of all lands,

Yet the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.

And I turned back my hand; and I will do for sake of my name, that it was not profaned before the eyes of the nations which I brought them forth before their eyes.

I also gave them decrees which were not good and regulations by which they could not live.

I brought them to the land which I swore to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings.

Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So the name of it is called Bamah (High Place) to this day.”’

What comes into your mind will never happen, when you say, ‘We will be like the [pagan] nations, like the tribes of the [Gentile] countries, serving [idols made of] wood and stone.’

I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you from the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

“I will make you pass under the rod [as the shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and constrain you] and bring you into the bond of the covenant [to which you are permanently bound].

I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant and soothing aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you have been scattered; and I will prove Myself holy and manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations.

And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your fathers.

And there you will remember your conduct and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves. You will despise yourselves because of all the evil deeds you have done.

And if they say, 'Wherefore mournest thou?' Then tell them, 'For the tidings that cometh, at the which all hearts shall melt, all hands shall be letten down, all stomachs shall faint, and all knees shall wax feeble.' Behold, it cometh, and shall be fulfilled, sayeth the LORD God.'"

Son of man, say as a prophet, These are the words of the Lord: Say, A sword, a sword which has been made sharp and polished:

To make a slaughter, is it sharpened, That it may flash as lightning, is it furbished. Or shall we flourish the royal rod of my son which despiseth every tree?

Cry, O thou son of man, and howl: for this sword shall smite my people, and all the rulers in Israel, which with my people shall be slain down to the ground through this sword. Smite therefore thou upon thy thigh, for it is gone forth to make a trial.

"'For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? declares the sovereign Lord.'

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time [in intensity], the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter which surrounds them [so that no one can escape, even by hiding in their inner rooms],

“As for you, son of man, mark out two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost; place it at the head of the way to the city.

thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this'shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

Perverted, perverted, perverted, will I set her: and this was not till he came which to him the judgment; and I gave him.

because thou hast looked thee out vanities, and prophesied lies, that it may come upon thy neck like as upon the other ungodly which be slain: whose day came, when their wickedness was full.

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.

and pour my indignation upon thee, and will blow upon thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee unto cruel people, which are learned to destroy.

Then say, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity),

You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made. Thus you have caused your day [of judgment and punishment] to approach and have arrived at [the completion of] your years; therefore, I have made you an object of scorn to the [pagan] nations and a thing to be mocked by all countries.

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

“Behold, therefore, I strike My hands [together] at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you.

Will thy heart stand, or will thine hands be strong for the day which I do with thee? I Jehovah spoke, and I

And I will send you in flight among the nations and wandering among the countries; and I will completely take away out of you everything which is unclean.

Son of man, say to her, You are a land on which no rain or thunderstorm has come in the day of wrath.

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

And she bestowed her fornication on them, [on] the choice [ones] of the {Assyrians}, all of them, and with every one [after] which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself.

By these her shame was uncovered: they took her sons and daughters and put her to death with the sword: and she became a cause of wonder to women; for they gave her the punishment which was right.

And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister.

she loved the Assyrians, which also lay with her: namely, the princes and great lords, that were clothed with all manner of gorgeous apparel, all lusty horsemen and fair young persons.

Yet she multiplied her depravities, remembering the days of her youth, when she was actively immoral in the land of Egypt.

Namely, the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans: Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, with all the Assyrians: all young and fair lovers, princes and lords, knights and gentlemen, which be all good horsemen.

And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

When I set forth my jealousy against thee, Then will they deal with thee in indignation, :Thy nose and thine ears, will they remove, And that which is left of thee, by the sword, shall fall, - They, will take away thy sons and thy daughters, And that which is left of thee, shall be devoured by the fire;

So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. You will not seek their help or remember Egypt anymore.

For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am giving thee into a hand that thou hast hated, Into a hand from which thou wast alienated.

Which shall deal cruelly with thee: All thy labour shall they take with them, and leave thee naked and bare, and thus the shame of thy filthy whoredom shall come to light.

All these things shall happen unto thee because of thy whoredom, which thou hast used among the Gentiles, with whose Idols thou hast defiled thyself.

Thus says the Lord God,

‘You will drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide [and filled to the brim].
You shall be laughed at and derided;
It contains much [too much to endure].

‘You will drink it and drain it,
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;

for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God.

and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.