He said to me: “Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.

For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language but to the house of Israel.

But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

“Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.

For I have assigned you the years of their iniquity according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it. A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.

“Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

“This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry out over all the evil and detestable practices of the house of Israel, who will fall by the sword, famine, and plague.

“Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel:

An end! The end has come
on the four corners of the land.

I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, like the vision I had seen in the plain.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing here, more detestable things that the house of Israel is committing, so that I must depart from My sanctuary? You will see even more detestable things.”

I went in and looked, and there engraved all around the wall was every form of detestable thing, crawling creatures and beasts, as well as all the idols of the house of Israel.

Seventy elders from the house of Israel were standing before them, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a firepan in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising up.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”

Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherub where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed in linen with the writing equipment at his side.

While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord God! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

He answered me: “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; He does not see.’

The cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth right before my eyes; the wheels were beside them as they went. The glory of the God of Israel was above them, and it stood at the entrance to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house.

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Chebar Canal, and I recognized that they were cherubim.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and He told me, “You are to say: This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind.

You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

The city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel,

Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out with a loud voice: “Oh, Lord God! Will You bring to an end the remnant of Israel?”

“Son of man, your own relatives, those who have the right to redeem you, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those that the residents of Jerusalem have said this to, ‘Stay away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

“Therefore say: This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

And while they look on, lift the bags to your shoulder and take them out in the dark; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

“Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, that rebellious house, asked you, ‘What are you doing?’

Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are living there.

Then say to the people of the land: This is what the Lord God says about the residents of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.

“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, which goes:

The days keep passing by,
and every vision fails?

Therefore say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I will put a stop to this proverb, and they will not use it again in Israel. But say to them: The days draw near, as well as the fulfillment of every vision.

For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

“Son of man, notice that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees concerns many years from now; he prophesies about distant times.’

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the Lord!

Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins.

You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.

“My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not be present in the fellowship of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

“Therefore, speak to them and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart, puts a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him appropriately. I will answer him according to his many idols,

so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from Me because of their idols.

“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things.

For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel separates himself from Me, setting up idols in his heart and putting a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I, Yahweh, will answer him Myself.

“But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, Yahweh, who deceived that prophet. I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“Son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

I will plant it on Israel’s high mountain
so that it may bear branches, produce fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind will nest under it,
taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

“What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:

The fathers eat sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge?

As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“you will no longer use this proverb in Israel.

He does not eat at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or come near a woman during her menstrual impurity.

He does not eat at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

“But you say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ Now listen, house of Israel: Is it My way that is unfair? Instead, isn’t it your ways that are unfair?

But the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ Is it My ways that are unfair, house of Israel? Instead, isn’t it your ways that are unfair?

“Therefore, house of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so they will not be a stumbling block that causes your punishment.

Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel?

“Now, lament for the princes of Israel

They put a wooden yoke on him with hooks
and led him away to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into the fortresses
so his roar could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.

In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, some of Israel’s elders came to consult the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.

“Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: Are you coming to consult Me? As I live, I will not be consulted by you.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of Jacob’s house and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, saying: I am Yahweh your God.

But I acted because of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations they were living among, in whose sight I had made Myself known to Israel by bringing them out of Egypt.

“But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—the person who does them will live by them. They also completely profaned My Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them in the wilderness to put an end to them.

“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by committing treachery against Me:

“Therefore say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: Are you defiling yourselves the way your fathers did, and prostituting yourselves with their detestable things?

When you offer your gifts, making your children pass through the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, house of Israel? As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“I will not be consulted by you!

And I will also purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

“As for you, house of Israel, this is what the Lord God says: Go and serve your idols, each of you. But afterward you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

For on My holy mountain, Israel’s high mountain”—the declaration of the Lord God—“there the entire house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your contributions and choicest gifts, all your holy offerings.

When I lead you into the land of Israel, the land I swore to give your fathers, you will know that I am Yahweh.

You will know that I am Yahweh, house of Israel, when I have dealt with you because of My name rather than according to your evil ways and corrupt acts.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“Son of man, turn your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel,

Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it is against My people.
It is against all the princes of Israel!
They are given over to the sword with My people.
Therefore strike your thigh in grief.

And you, profane and wicked prince of Israel,
the day has come
for your punishment.”

“Look, every prince of Israel within you has used his strength to shed blood.

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

‘Say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your heart. Also, the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.

Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the Lord God: This is what the Lord God says: Because you said, ‘Good!’ about My sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile,

For this is what the Lord God says: “Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced over the land of Israel with wholehearted contempt,

I will take My vengeance on Edom through My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. So they will know My vengeance.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Judah and the land of Israel were your merchants. They exchanged wheat from Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm, for your goods.

“The house of Israel will no longer be hurt by prickly briers or painful thorns from all their neighbors who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

“This is what the Lord God says: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are scattered and demonstrate My holiness through them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land, which I gave to My servant Jacob.

Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
will know that I am Yahweh,
for they have been a staff made of reed
to the house of Israel.

When Israel grasped you by the hand,
you splintered, tearing all their shoulders;
when they leaned on you,
you shattered and made all their hips unsteady.

It will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, drawing attention to their sin of turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

“In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will enable you to speak out among them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”

“As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have said this, ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy on us, and we are wasting away because of them! How then can we survive?’

Tell them: As I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?

Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

“Son of man, those who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’

I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through.

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?

I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

I will tend them with good pasture, and their grazing place will be on Israel’s lofty mountains. There they will lie down in a good grazing place; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.