And the children are hard and stiff-hearted; I am sending you to them: and you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord.

And they, if they give ear to you or if they do not give ear (for they are an uncontrolled people), will see that there has been a prophet among them.

And you, son of man, have no fear of them or of their words, even if sharp thorns are round you and you are living among scorpions: have no fear of their words and do not be overcome by their looks, for they are an uncontrolled people.

And you are to give them my words, if they give ear to you or if they do not: for they are uncontrolled.

For you are not sent to a people whose talk is strange and whose language is hard, but to the children of Israel;

Not to a number of peoples whose talk is strange and whose language is hard and whose words are not clear to you. Truly, if I sent you to them they would give ear to you.

Like a diamond harder than rock I have made your brow: have no fear of them and do not be overcome by their looks, for they are an uncontrolled people.

And I will make your tongue fixed to the roof of your mouth, so that you have no voice and may not make protests to them: for they are an uncontrolled people.

But when I have talk with you I will make your mouth open, and you are to say to them, This is what the Lord has said: Let the hearer give ear; and as for him who will not, let him keep his ears shut: for they are an uncontrolled people.

Then, stretching yourself out on your left side, take the sin of the children of Israel on yourself: for as long as you are stretched out, so long will the sin of the children of Israel be on you.

And when these days are ended, turning on your right side, you are to take on yourself the sin of the children of Judah: forty days, a day for a year, I have had it fixed for you.

And see, I will put bands on you; and you will be stretched out without turning from one side to the other till the days of your attack are ended.

And take for yourself wheat and barley and different sorts of grain, and put them in one vessel and make bread for yourself from them; all the days when you are stretched on your side it will be your food.

And you are to take your food by weight, twenty shekels a day: you are to take it at regular times.

And you are to take water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: you are to take it at regular times.

You are to have a third part burned with fire inside the town, when the days of the attack are ended; and a third part you are to take and give blows with the sword round about it; and give a third part for the wind to take away, and let loose a sword after them.

This is what the Lord has said: This is Jerusalem: I have put her among the nations, and countries are round her on every side;

But still, I will keep a small band safe from the sword among the nations, when you are sent wandering among the countries.

And those of you who are kept safe will have me in mind among the nations where they have been taken away as prisoners, how I sent punishment on their hearts which were untrue to me, and on their eyes which were turned to their false gods: and they will be full of hate for themselves because of the evil things which they have done in all their disgusting ways.

And you will be certain that I am the Lord, when their dead men are stretched among their images round about their altars on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every branching tree, and under every thick oak-tree, the places where they made sweet smells to all their images.

And he said to me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? even the very disgusting things which the children of Israel are doing here, causing me to go far away from my holy place? but you will see other most disgusting things.

And he said to me, Go in and see the evil and disgusting things which they are doing here.

Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? is it a small thing to the children of Judah that they do the disgusting things which they are doing here? for they have made the land full of violent behaviour, making me angry again and again: and see, they put the branch to my nose.

The Lord said to him, Go through the town, through the middle of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the brows of the men who are sorrowing and crying for all the disgusting things which are done in it.

Then he said to me, Son of man, these are the men who are designing evil, who are teaching evil ways in this town:

Who say, This is not the time for building houses: this town is the cooking-pot and we are the flesh.

And the spirit of the Lord came on me, and he said to me, Say, These are the words of the Lord: This is what you have said, O children of Israel; what comes into your mind is clear to me.

For this reason the Lord has said: Your dead whom you have put down in its streets, they are the flesh, and this town is the cooking-pot: but I will make you come out from inside it.

Son of man, your countrymen, your relations, and all the children of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the people of Jerusalem have said, Go far from the Lord; this land is given to us for a heritage:

Son of man, you are living among an uncontrolled people, who have eyes to see but see not, and ears for hearing but they do not give ear; for they are an uncontrolled people.

And you, O son of man, by day, before their eyes, get ready the vessels of one who is taken away, and go away from your place to another place before their eyes: it may be that they will see, though they are an uncontrolled people.

By day, before their eyes, take out your vessels like those of one who is taken away: and go out in the evening before their eyes, like those who are taken away as prisoners.

Son of man, has not Israel, the uncontrolled people, said to you, What are you doing?

You are to say to them, This is what the Lord has said: This word has to do with the ruler in Jerusalem and all the children of Israel in it.

For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: I have made this saying come to an end, and it will no longer be used as a common saying in Israel; but say to them, The days are near, and the effect of every vision.

Son of man, see, the children of Israel say, The vision which he sees is for the days which are a long way off, and his words are of times still far away.

Son of man, be a prophet against the prophets of Israel, and say to those prophets whose words are the invention of their hearts, Give ear to the word of the Lord;

So this is what the Lord has said: Because your words are without substance and your visions are false, see, I am against you, says the Lord.

So I will let loose my passion on the wall in full measure, and on those who put whitewash on it; and I will say to you, Where is the wall, and where are those who put whitewash on it?

And you, son of man, let your face be turned against the daughters of your people, who are acting the part of prophets at their pleasure; be a prophet against them, and say,

This is what the Lord has said: A curse is on the women who are stitching bands on all arms and putting veils on the heads of those of every size, so that they may go after souls! Will you go after the souls of my people and keep yourselves safe from death?

For this cause say to them, These are the words of the Lord: Every man of Israel who has taken his false god into his heart, and put before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself in agreement with the number of his false gods;

For this cause say to the children of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: Come back and give up your false gods and let your faces be turned from your disgusting things.

When any one of the men of Israel, or of those from other lands who are living in Israel, who has become strange to me, and takes his false gods into his heart, and puts before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, comes to the prophet to get directions from me; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself:

And when I went past you and saw you stretched out in your blood, I said to you, Though you are stretched out in your blood, have life;

Now, then, my hand is stretched out against you, cutting down your fixed amount, and I have given you up to the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines who are shamed by your loose ways.

And in your loose behaviour you are different from other women, for no one goes after you to make love to you: and because you give payment and no payment is given to you, in this you are different from them.

And you will be judged by me as women are judged who have been untrue to their husbands and have taken life; and I will let loose against you passion and bitter feeling.

You are the daughter of your mother whose soul is turned in disgust from her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters who were turned in disgust from their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

And you yourself will be put to shame, in that you have given the decision for your sisters; through your sins, which are more disgusting than theirs, they are more upright than you: truly, you will be shamed and made low, for you have made your sisters seem upright.

Before your shame was uncovered? Now you have become like her a word of shame to the daughters of Edom and all who are round about you, the daughters of the Philistines who put shame on you round about.

Say now to this uncontrolled people, Are these things not clear to you? Say to them, See, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took its king and its rulers away with him to Babylon;

Why do you make use of this saying about the land of Israel, The fathers have been tasting bitter grapes and the children's teeth are on edge?

See, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is mine: death will be the fate of the sinner's soul.

But you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Give ear, now, O children of Israel; is my way not equal? are not your ways unequal?

But still the children of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, are my ways not equal? are not your ways unequal?

Put away all your evil-doing in which you have done sin; and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: why are you desiring death, O children of Israel?

And I said to them, Let every man among you put away the disgusting things to which his eyes are turned, and do not make yourselves unclean with the images of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

For this cause say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Are you making yourselves unclean as your fathers did? are you being untrue to me by going after their disgusting works?

And I will take you out from the peoples and get you together out of the countries where you are wandering, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with burning wrath let loose:

Clearing out from among you all those who are uncontrolled and who are sinning against me; I will take them out of the land where they are living, but they will not come into the land of Israel: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

And say to the land of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, and I will take my sword out of its cover, cutting off from you the upright and the evil.

And when they say to you, Why are you making sounds of grief? then say, Because of the news, for it is coming: and every heart will become soft, and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will be burning low, and all knees will be turned to water: see, it is coming and it will be done, says the Lord.

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:

So then, son of man, be a prophet, and put your hands together with a loud sound, and give two blows with the sword, and even three; it is the sword of those who are wounded, even the sword of the wounded; the great sword which goes round about them.

In order that hearts may become soft, and the number of those who are falling may be increased, I have sent death by the sword against all their doors: you are made like a flame, you are polished for death.

Your vision is to no purpose, your use of secret arts gives a false answer, to put it on the necks of evil-doers who are wounded to death, whose day has come, in the time of the last punishment.

And you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: A town causing blood to be drained out in her streets so that her time may come, and making images in her to make her unclean!

You are responsible for the blood drained out by you, and you are unclean through the images which you have made; and you have made your day come near, and the time of your judging has come; for this cause I have made you a name of shame to the nations and a cause of laughing to all countries.

Those who are near and those who are far from you will make sport of you; your name is unclean, you are full of sounds of fear.

In you there are men who say evil of others, causing death; in you they have taken the flesh with the blood for food; in your streets they have put evil designs into effect.

Son of man, the children of Israel have become like the poorest sort of waste metal to me: they are all silver and brass and tin and iron and lead mixed with waste.

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

Her rulers in her are like a loud-voiced lion violently taking his food; they have made a meal of souls; they have taken wealth and valued property; they have made great the number of widows in her.

Her rulers in her are like wolves violently taking their food; putting men to death and causing the destruction of souls, so that they may get their profit.

For this is what the Lord has said: See, I will give you up into the hands of those who are hated by you, into the hands of those from whom your soul is turned away in disgust:

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.

And upright men will be her judges, judging her as false wives and women who take lives are judged; because she has been untrue to me and blood is on her hands.

Take the best of the flock, put much wood under it: see that its bits are boiling well; let the bones be cooked inside it.

And as for you, son of man, your mouth will be shut in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which their hearts are fixed, and their sons and daughters.

This is what the Lord has said: Because Moab and Seir are saying, See, the people of Judah are like all the nations;

This is what the Lord has said to Tyre: Will not the sea-lands be shaking at the sound of your fall, when the wounded give cries of pain, when men are put to the sword in you?

And they will send up a song of grief for you, and say to you, What destruction has come on you, how are you cut off from the sea, the noted town, which was strong in the sea, she and her people, causing the fear of them to come on all the dry land!

For this is what the Lord has said: I will make you a waste town, like the towns which are unpeopled; when I make the deep come upon you, covering you with great waters.

I will make you a thing of fear, and you will come to an end: even if you are looked for, you will not be seen again for ever, says the Lord.

And say to Tyre, O you who are seated at the doorway of the sea, trading for the peoples with the great sea-lands, these are the words of the Lord: You, O Tyre, have said, I am a ship completely beautiful.

Your wealth and your goods, the things in which you do trade, your seamen and those guiding your ships, those who make your boards watertight, and those who do business with your goods, and all your men of war who are in you, with all who have come together in you, will go down into the heart of the seas in the day of your downfall.

And all the boatmen, the seamen and those who are expert at guiding a ship through the sea, will come down from their ships and take their places on the land;

Now that you are broken by the seas in the deep waters, your goods and all your people will go down with you.

All the people of the sea-lands are overcome with wonder at you, and their kings are full of fear, their faces are troubled.

Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, This is what the Lord has said: Because your heart has been lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I am seated on the seat of God in the heart of the seas; but you are man and not God, though you have made your heart as the heart of God:

See, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret which is deeper than your knowledge:

They will send you down to the underworld, and your death will be the death of those who are put to the sword in the heart of the seas.

Will you say, in the face of those who are taking your life, I am God? but you are man and not God in the hands of those who are wounding you.

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, make a song of grief for the king of Tyre, and say to him, This is what the Lord has said: You are all-wise and completely beautiful;

These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, O Zidon; and I will get glory for myself in you: and they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I send my punishments on her, and I will be seen to be holy in her.

And there will no longer be a plant with sharp points wounding the children of Israel, or a thorn troubling them among any who are round about them, who put shame on them; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

This is what the Lord has said: When I have got together the children of Israel from the peoples among whom they are wandering, and have been made holy among them before the eyes of the nations, then they will have rest in the land which is theirs, which I gave to my servant Jacob

Say to them, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great river-beast stretched out among his Nile streams, who has said, The Nile is mine, and I have made it for myself.