Then you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I swore to give to your fathers.

And there you will remember your conduct and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves. You will despise yourselves because of all the evil deeds you have done.

Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my reputation and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

and say to the scrub land of the Negev, 'Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to start a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.

And everyone will see that I, the Lord, have burned it; it will not be extinguished.'"

and say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: Look, I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone from the south to the north.

Then everyone will know that I am the Lord, who drew my sword from its sheath -- it will not be sheathed again!'

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."

"'For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? declares the sovereign Lord.'

I too will clap my hands together, I will exhaust my rage; I the Lord have spoken."

"You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon's sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

But those in Jerusalem will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, but the king of Babylon will accuse them of violations in order to seize them.

"Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: 'Because you have brought up your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force.

A total ruin I will make it! It will come to an end when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.'

Return it to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in your native land, I will judge you.

I will pour out my anger on you; the fire of my fury I will blow on you. I will hand you over to brutal men, who are skilled in destruction.

You will become fuel for the fire -- your blood will stain the middle of the land; you will no longer be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.'"

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.

Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, full of turmoil.

Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!

I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries; I will remove your impurity from you.

You will be profaned within yourself in the sight of the nations; then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there and melt you.

I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it.

As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.'"

"Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:

They will attack you with weapons, chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; they will punish you according to their laws.

I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors will die by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.

They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry.

So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. You will not seek their help or remember Egypt anymore.

They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct.

I will do these things to you because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols.

You have followed the ways of your sister, so I will place her cup of judgment in your hand.

"This is what the sovereign Lord says: "You will drink your sister's deep and wide cup; you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal.

You will be overcome by drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation.

You will drain it dry, gnaw its pieces, and tear out your breasts, for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, 'Now they will commit immoral acts with her.'

But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses.

I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct.

They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for idol worship. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord."

"'Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile high.

You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. I tried to cleanse you, but you are not clean. You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness until I have exhausted my anger on you.

"'I the Lord have spoken; judgment is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! I will judge you according to your conduct and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

Then the people said to me, "Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?"

Say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary -- the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life's passion. Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die by the sword.

Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lip or eat food brought by others.

Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot for your iniquities and groan among yourselves.

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.'

"And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take from them their stronghold -- their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, as well as their sons and daughters:

On that day a fugitive will come to you to report the news.

On that day you will be able to speak again; you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord."

So take note, I am about to make you slaves of the tribes of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the tribes of the east, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations.

I will execute judgments against Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.'"

So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die by the sword.

I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill the Cherethites and destroy those who remain on the seacoast.

I will exact great vengeance upon them with angry rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I exact my vengeance upon 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,'

therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.

They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock.

She will be a place where fishing nets are spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations,

and her daughters who are in the field will be slaughtered by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you.

He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons.

He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city's broken walls.

With his horses' hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground.

They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw into the water.

I will silence the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more.

I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

"This is what the sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Oh, how the coastlands will shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, at the massive slaughter in your midst!

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.

They will sing this lament over you: "'How you have perished -- you have vanished from the seas, O renowned city, once mighty in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror!

Now the coastlands will tremble on the day of your fall; the coastlands by the sea will be terrified by your passing.'

then I will bring you down to bygone people, to be with those who descend to the pit. I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth, among the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited or stand in the land of the living.

I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more! Though you are sought after, you will never be found again, declares the sovereign Lord."

Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains, your ship's carpenters, your merchants, and all your fighting men within you, along with all your crew who are in you, will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

At the sound of your captains' cry the waves will surge;

They will descend from their ships -- all who handle the oar, the sailors and all the sea captains -- they will stand on the land.

They will lament loudly over you and cry bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes;

they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth, and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning.

As they wail they will lament over you, chanting: "Who was like Tyre, like a tower in the midst of the sea?"

The traders among the peoples hiss at you; you have become a horror, and will be no more.'"

I am about to bring foreigners against you, the most terrifying of nations. They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, and they will defile your splendor.

They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die violently in the heart of the seas.

Will you still say, "I am a god," before the one who kills you -- though you are a man and not a god -- when you are in the power of those who wound you?

You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.'"

All who know you among the peoples are shocked at you; you have become terrified and will be no more.'"

Say, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'Look, I am against you, Sidon, and I will magnify myself in your midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments on her and reveal my sovereign power in her.

I will send a plague into the city and bloodshed into its streets; the slain will fall within it, by the sword that attacks it from every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

"'No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them. Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob.

They will live securely in it; they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely when I execute my judgments on all those who scorn them and surround them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.'"

I will put hooks in your jaws and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales. I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways, and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.

I will leave you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your waterways; you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.

Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord because they were a reed staff for the house of Israel;