"Now, Lord GOD," I replied, "I've never been defiled, ever since I was young until now. I haven't eaten an animal that died on its own or was torn by beasts, and no unclean meat has ever entered my mouth!"

Tell the mountains of Israel to listen as the Lord GOD speaks. This is what the Lord GOD has to say to the mountains, hills, streams, and the valleys: "Look! I'm about to bring my sword against you. I'm going to destroy your high places.

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Clap your hands and stamp your feet! Say, "Oh, no!' Because of all the detestable evil that has come from Israel's house, they'll fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.

""Your doom has come to you, you who live in the land. The time has arrived, and the day of confusion is near. There will be no shouts of joy on the mountains.

"Look out! The day! "Look out! It's coming! "Doom has blossomed. "Arrogance has sprouted!

"Violence has matured into a branch that is wicked. No one will survive from that vast crowd, from their wealthy people, or from the famous among them.

"The time has come!

"The day has arrived. Don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller lament, because wrath is coming to attack the entire multitude. The seller won't regain what he has sold while the crowd remains alive, because the vision concerning the entire multitude won't be annulled. No person will be able to survive because of the sin in his life.

They'll fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will be cast away as impure. Their silver and gold won't be able to deliver them during the time of the LORD's wrath. They won't be able to satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, because their iniquity has tripped them up."

the Spirit asked me, "Do you see, Son of Man, what the elders of Israel's house are doing in secret, each in the chamber of his own carved idol? They keep saying, "God doesn't see us. The LORD has abandoned the land.'"

You are to execute old men, young men, young women, little children, and women. But don't touch anyone who has been marked. Begin at my Holy Place!" And so they started with the elders who were in standing in front of the Temple.

"The house of Israel and Judah is guilty and theirs is a stubborn guilt, at that!" he replied to me. "The land is filled with blood, and the city overflows with injustice, because they keep saying, "The LORD has abandoned the land,' and "The LORD isn't watching.'

They keep saying, "The right time to build families hasn't yet arrived. The city is the pot and we are the meat.'

"Son of Man, you live in a rebellious house that has eyes to see, but they can't see, and ears to hear, but they can't hear, since they're a rebellious house.

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because your lust has been poured out and your nakedness has been uncovered by your acts of fornication with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your sons, whom you offered to them,

"As long as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "in Babylon, that place where the king has enthroned him, whose oath he despised so as to break his covenant, he'll die with him.

He despised the oath he had made and broke the covenant. Look! Because he willingly submitted, yet he has done all these things, he won't escape.

even though the father hasn't done any of these things. The son who eats at mountain shrines, defiles his neighbor's wife,

loans with usury, and exacts interest; will he live? He certainly will not! He has done all these detestable practices. He will certainly die, and his guilt will be his own fault."

"Yet you keep asking, "Why wouldn't the son bear the punishment of his father's sin?' Because the son has done what was lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and obeyed them, he's certainly going to live.

Also, I instituted my Sabbath for them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the LORD, who has set them apart."

So I asked them, "What is the high place to which you're going?' That's why the name of the place has been called Bamah to this day."'

When they'll ask you, "Why are you groaning?' you are to say, "Because of the news that just arrived. Every heart will melt with fear, every hand will grow limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will glisten with sweat.' Look! It has come and it will be fulfilled," declares the Lord GOD.

"So now, you dishonored and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come in this time of final punishment,

A ruin! A ruin! I'm bringing about ruin!' But this also will not happen until he who has authority over it arrives, because I'll give it to him."

"""Watch out! Each of the princes of Israel has misused his authority to shed blood.

"Watch out! I'm vehemently angry about the unjust gains that you've earned, and about the blood that has been shed among you.

"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.

"Son of Man, tell her, "You're a land that hasn't been purified, one that hasn't been rained on in the day of indignation.

""Her prophets whitewashed all of these things through false visions and lying divinations. They kept on saying, "This is what the Lord GOD says"", when the LORD has not spoken.

"Son of Man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem on this very day.

There is wickedness in your obscene conduct. Even though I've cleansed you, you uncleanness cannot be washed away. You cannot be cleansed again until my rage against you has subsided.'

That's how Ezekiel will be an example for you. You'll be doing exactly what he has done. When it happens, then you'll know that I am the Lord GOD."'

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because Edom has made it their practice to seek extraordinary vengeance against Judah's citizens, and by doing so has incurred extraordinary guilt by taking revenge against them,'

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because Philistia has made it their practice to carry out retribution, accompanied by extraordinary malice in their personal vendettas vendettas that spring from their everlasting hostility

"Son of Man, because Tyre has been saying about Jerusalem, "The international gateway is broken down! It's wide open to me! I will be replenished, now that it lies in ruins!'

There will be so many horses that the dust raised by them will cover you completely. The walls of your city will tremble from the noise of Nebuchadnezzar's cavalry, wagons, and chariots when they enter through the gates of your city, as men enter a city that has been breached.

That's when all the kings of the seafaring nations will abandon their thrones, strip off their fancy clothes, and collapse trembling on the ground. They'll be so frightened as they observe what has happened to you that they'll be unable to stop trembling. They will be utterly appalled at you!

"Because you have so much to sell and are so rich, Damascus has been your trading partner, exchanging wine from Helbon, unbleached wool,

But your rowers have brought you into dangerous waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the ocean!

By your great wisdom, by your skills in trading you have amassed wealth for yourself and your heart has become arrogant because of your wealth."

"Son of Man, I've broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Look! It hasn't been set in a splint for healing or wrapped with a bandage so it could be strong enough to hold a sword!

"This has been a lamentation. They will chant it, and the citizens of the nations will chant it, too. They'll chant it about Egypt and about all of its hordes."

"They'll die along with others who are killed violently. Egypt has been given over to violence, which will carry off both it and its hordes."

returning what has been placed as collateral for a loan, paying back what he has taken, following the regulations that promote life, and committing no iniquity, he will certainly live, and not die.

None of the sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Since he did what is just and right, he will certainly live.

On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a fugitive who had escaped from Jerusalem came and informed me, "The city has been destroyed."

"Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, "Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we're a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.'

"Now as for you, Son of Man, your nation's children keep gathering together to talk about you beside the walls and at the doorway to their houses. Everyone tells one another, "Please come! Let's go hear what the LORD has to say!'

When all of this comes about and you can be sure that it will! they'll learn that a prophet has been in their midst."

I'll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the LORD, when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them.

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "The enemy has been saying about you, "Good! The ancient heights are back in our possession!"'"'

"Therefore listen to what the Lord GOD has to say, you mountains of Israel: "This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains, to the hills, to the waterways, to the valleys, to the desolate wastelands, and to the abandoned cities that have become an object of derision to the mountains that surround you:

I've been concerned about my holy reputation, which the house of Israel has been defiling throughout all of the nations where they've gone."

I'm going to affirm my great reputation that has been defiled among the nations (that is, that you have defiled in their midst), and those people will learn that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I affirm my holiness in front of their very eyes.

They will say, "This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden, and what used to be desolate ruins are now fortified and inhabited."

"This is what the Lord GOD has to say: "I'm going to allow the house of Israel to ask anything they want from me, including this: I'm going to increase their population as a shepherd increases his flock.

"""Many days from now in the latter years you will be summoned to a land that has been restored from violence. You will be gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which formerly had been a continuous waste, but which will be populated with people who have been brought back from the nations. All of them will be living there securely.

"Now as for you, Son of Man, prophesy against Gog and tell him, "This is what the Lord GOD has to say: "Watch out, Gog, you leader of the head of Meshech and of Tubal!

"Now as for you, Son of Man, this is what the Lord GOD has to say: "Tell all of the birds and wild beasts, "Come! Gather together and participate in the sacrifice that I'm going to make for you. This great sacrifice will take place on the mountains of Israel, where you'll be eating flesh and drinking blood.

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD has to say: "I'm going to restore the resources of Jacob and show mercy to the entire house of Israel. I'll be zealous for my own reputation and for my holiness.

However, the priests are not to eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or that has been torn apart."