He said to me, "Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day.

He said to me, "Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."

He said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;

But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me.

Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

"Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.

For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

The LORD said, "Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them."

Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel."

"Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them,

and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: "Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.

I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

"Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas." because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

"You, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, 'An end: the end has come on the four corners of the land.

Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations."

So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.

There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, 'The LORD doesn't see us. The LORD has forsaken the land.'"

The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.

It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, "Ah Lord GOD. Will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?"

Then he said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion: for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD doesn't see.'

The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

These were the living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.

The Spirit of the LORD fell on me, and he said to me, "Speak, Thus says the LORD: 'Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

This shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel;

It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord GOD. Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

"Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far away from the LORD. This land has been given to us for a possession.'

Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."

Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you do not see the land: for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel."

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

Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.'

and tell the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.

"Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, 'The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?'

Tell them therefore, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel'; but tell them, 'The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.

For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

"Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.'

"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the LORD:

Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD."

My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,'"' says the Lord GOD."

Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.

Therefore speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;

that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols."'

"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Return, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

"'"If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God," says the Lord GOD.'"

"Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

"What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?'

As I live, says the Lord GOD, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,

who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

"'Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not equal." Hear now, house of Israel: "Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?"

Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not fair." "House of Israel, aren't my ways fair? Aren't your ways unfair?"

"'Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,' says the Lord GOD. 'Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

"Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you."'

and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, 'I am the LORD your God';

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you play the prostitute after their abominations?

And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you;

and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the LORD."

"'As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: "Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

You shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

You shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel," says the Lord GOD.'"

"Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

and tell the land of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.

"'You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,

"'"Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

'Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.

and tell the children of Ammon, 'Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you said, 'Aha,' against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity:

For thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel;

I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord GOD.'"

Judah, and the land of Israel, they were your traffickers: they traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and confections, and honey, and oil, and balm.

"'There shall be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them, that scorned them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.'

"Thus says the Lord GOD: 'When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.

All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD."'"

'In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in their midst; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'"

"So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

"You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: 'Thus you speak, saying, "Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?"'

Tell them, 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?'

Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not equal.' House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways."

"Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, 'Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.'

I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?