And as for them, whether they listen or not -- for they are a rebellious house -- they will know that a prophet has been among them.

And I said, "Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat has never entered my mouth."

The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them.

An end comes -- the end comes! It has awakened against you -- the end is upon you! Look, it is coming!

"Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed!

Violence has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left -- not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence.

The time has come; the day has struck! The customer should not rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for divine wrath comes against their whole crowd.

He said to me, "Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? For they think, 'The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!'"

Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women -- wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!" So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.

He said to me, "The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, for they say, 'The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!'

"Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'They have gone far away from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.'

"Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

They see delusion and their omens are a lie. They say, "the Lord declares," though the Lord has not sent them; yet they expect their word to be confirmed.

When the wall has collapsed, people will ask you, "Where is the whitewash you coated it with?"

No! It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything?

Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done.

"Suppose such a man has a violent son who sheds blood and does any of these things mentioned previously

engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. He will bear the responsibility for his own death.

"But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father's example.

does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked,

"But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live.

"But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.

When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die.

When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life.

A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.' This is a lament song, and has become a lament song."

When they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you will reply, 'Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.' Pay attention -- it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord."

"'As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of final punishment,

while seeing false visions for you and reading lying omens for you -- to place that sword on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of final punishment.

you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands.

"'See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood.

"Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; they are the worthless slag of silver.

Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, 'This is what the sovereign Lord 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 this very day.

"'Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot is in it, whose rot has not been removed from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it.

It has tried my patience; yet its thick rot is not removed from it. Subject its rot to the fire!

Ezekiel will be an object lesson for you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.'

"This is what the sovereign Lord says: 'Edom has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable by taking vengeance on them.

"Son of man, because Tyre has said about Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, now that she has been destroyed,'

All the princes of the sea will vacate their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you.

Your rowers have brought you into surging waters. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.

Tell them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lying in the midst of its waterways, who has said, "My Nile is my own, I made it for myself."

"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Look, it has not been bandaged for healing or set with a dressing so that it might become strong enough to grasp a sword.

I gave it over to the leader of the nations. He has judged it thoroughly, as its sinfulness deserves. I have thrown it out.

Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die.

He returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, committing no iniquity. He will certainly live -- he will not die.

None of the sins he has committed will be counted against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, a refugee came to me from Jerusalem saying, "The city has been defeated!"

"Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.'

This is what the sovereign Lord says: The enemy has spoken against you, saying "Aha!" and, "The ancient heights have become our property!"'

I will magnify my great name that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I magnify myself among you in their sight.

They will say, "This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited."

Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, 'Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.'

The Lord said to me: "This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut.

After a priest has become ceremonially clean, they must count off a period of seven days for him.

The priests will not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or was torn to pieces by a wild animal.