People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood. You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors. You have forgotten Me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice.

Then sought I from among them, a man Who could bud up a wall And stand in the breach before me in behalf of the land So that I might not destroy her, - But I found none.

"Son of Man, here are two sisters who are daughters from the same mother.

who acted like prostitutes in Egypt, behaving promiscuously in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin nipples caressed.

And Oholah prostituted [herself] {while she was still mine}, and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria [who was] nearby,

Who were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.

Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

"She became even more sexually immoral when she saw the images of the Chaldean men who had been carved in red on their walls.

And she will desire after their paramours, whom the flesh of asses their flesh, and the flowing of horses their flowing.

Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;

And they shall come against you with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, who shall set against you buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I commit set judgment unto them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and {those who are left}, they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and {your remnant} will be consumed by fire.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:

That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

“Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, ‘Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus?’

But they committed adultery with her as they would with a prostitute. So they went in to Oholah (Israel) and to Oholibah (Judah), the lewd women.

And upright men will be her judges, judging her as false wives and women who take lives are judged; because she has been untrue to me and blood is on her hands.

Wherefore, thus sayeth the LORD God: O woe be unto that bloodthirsty city, for whom I will prepare a heap of wood.

Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.

So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; in accordance with all that he has done you will do. And when this [destruction of the temple] comes, then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.’”

"And now, Son of Man, on the day that I take their strength, joy, and glory from them, those whom they love to watch, the focus of their affection their sons and daughters

In that day, one who has got away safe will come to you to give you news of it.

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him who hath escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

therefore you'd better look out! I'm going to turn you over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. They will set up military encampments and permanent places in which to live among you, and then they'll eat your fruit and drink your milk.

I will make Rabbah [your chief city] a pasture for camels and [the cities of] the Ammonites a resting place for flocks [of sheep]. And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

therefore you'd better watch out! I'm raising a clenched fist in your direction! I'm about to feed you to the surrounding nations as war plunder. I'm going to eliminate you as a nation and kill off those of you who survive to live in other countries. I'm going to destroy you, and that's how you'll learn that I am the LORD.'"

I'm going to turn these cities over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. As a result, Ammon will be forgotten as a nation.

Thus I will execute judgment and punishment on Moab, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the 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.

Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she who was the doorway of the peoples is broken; she is turned over to them; she who was full is made waste;

And her daughters who are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

He'll execute your citizens who live on the mainland with swords. He'll build siege engines to attack you. Then he'll construct siege ramps against you and build huge shields to protect themselves against you.

By reason of the multitude of his horses, their dust shall cover thee, - At the noise of horseman and wheel and chariot, shall thy walls tremble, when he entereth into thy gates Just as they do who enter a city broken open.

"This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: "When your wounded citizens groan while the slaughter takes place among you, the people who live in the coastlands will tremble in terror as they hear about your fall, will they not?

And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by sea-faring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

"Now the coastland inhabitants will tremble on the day that you fall. The coastland inhabitants, who make their living from the sea, will be terrified when you pass away!'

And I will bring you down with [those who are] going down to the grave, {an ancient people}, and I will cause you to dwell in the world of [the] depths, in the ruins from of old with [those who are] going down to [the] grave, so that you will not be inhabited and {have a place} in [the] land of [the] living.

And you must say to Tyre, the one who sits at [the] entrance of the sea [as] the merchant of the peoples to the many coastlands, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Tyre, {you yourself said} "I [am] perfect {in beauty}!"

The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy rowers; thy wise men, O Tyre, who were in thee, were thy pilots.

Thy wealth and thy wares, thy merchandise thy mariners, and thy sailors,-thy calkers and the barterers of thy merchandise and all thy men of war who are in thee and in all thy gathered host which is in thy midst Shall fall into the heart of the seas, In the day of thy fall.

And all the boatmen, the seamen and those who are expert at guiding a ship through the sea, will come down from their ships and take their places on the land;

And shall take up for thee in their Wailing: a dirge, And shall chant over thee,- Who is like Tyre? Like the Sent One in the midst of the sea?

Everyone who lives by the sea is appalled at your destruction. Their leaders are terrified their faces reflect their fears!

Those who do business among the peoples make sounds of surprise at you; you have become a thing of fear, you have come to an end for ever.

They will send you down to the underworld, and your death will be the death of those who are put to the sword in the heart of the seas.

Wilt thou really say, God, am I, before him who is slaying thee; When, thou, art a man and not a God, in the hand of them who are piercing h thee?

Your death will be the death of those who are without circumcision, by the hands of men from strange lands: for I have said it, says the Lord.

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, who sealest up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,

Thou art an anointed cherub who is covering, And I have set thee in the holy mount, God thou hast been, In the midst of stones of fire thou hast walked up and down.

From the abundance of your iniquities in the dishonesty of your trading, I profaned your sanctuaries and I brought fire from your midst; it consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth {before the eyes of everyone who sees you}.

{All who know you} among the peoples are appalled over you; you have become [as] horrors, and {you shall cease to exist forever}." '"

Another message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

“For I will send virulent disease to her
And blood into her streets,
And the wounded will fall in her midst
By the sword upon her from every side,
And they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

And the house of Israel shall no more have a stinging prickle or a wounding thorn, of any round about them who used to despise them,- So shall they know that I an The Lord Yahweh.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

And they will live on it in safety, and they will build houses, and they will plant vineyards, and they will live in safety when I execute my judgments on all {those who despise them from all around them}, and [then] they will know that I [am] Yahweh their God."

In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, a message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

Speak, and thou shalt say - Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh Behold me! against thee O Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great Crocodile that lieth along in the midst of his rivers: Who saith - My river is, mine own, Since I myself made it me!

“And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.

and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine and I have made it,’

Yet thus says the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they were scattered:

And Egypt will never again have the confidence of the house of Israel; their wickedness will be remembered whenever Israel looks toward them [for help]. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.”’”

On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our captivity, a message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seizing its spoil and taking its plunder. This will be his army’s compensation.

“In that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord [when I renew their strength].”

Another message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mixed people; and Chub, and the men of the land who are in covenant with them shall fall by the sword.

This is what the Lord says:
Those who support Egypt will fall,
and its proud strength will collapse.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall within it by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

They will know that I am the LORD when I kindle my fire in Egypt and all who help her are crushed.

“And I will make the rivers [of the Nile delta] dry
And sell the land into the hands of evil men;
I will make the land desolate
And all that is in it,
By the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken.”

“In this way I will bring judgment and punishment on Egypt.
Then they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword in his hand. But I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of one who is stabbed.

But I will strengthen and hold up the arms of the king of Babylon and the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then the people [of Egypt] will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.

When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the lands, then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”

Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

I turned it over to the leader of those nations, who dealt with it thoroughly. I have driven it away because of its wickedness.

And men from strange lands, who are to be feared among the nations, after cutting him off, have let him be: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches have come down; his arms are broken by all the waterways of the land; all the peoples of the earth have gone from his shade, and have let him be.

To the end that none of the trees of the waters - May exalt themselves in their stature or stretch their top among the clouds, Nor their mighty ones take their stand in their height- any that drink of the waters, - Because they all, are delivered to death Unto the earth below. In the midst of the sons of Adam. Amongst them who descend into the pit.

At the sound of his fall, I made nations tremble, When I caused him to descend into hades, with them who descend into the pit, - Then were grieved in the earth below-All the trees of Eden, The choicest and best of Lebanon All who had drunk the waters.

Even they, with him descended into hades. Among them who were thrust through with the sword,- Even his seed who dwelt in his shade in the midst of the nations.

To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:

And I will aggrieve the heart of many peoples,- when I bring them who are broken off from thee among the nations, unto lands which thou hast not known.

I'm going to make your gangs die using the weapons of valiant warriors, all of whom are ruthless people. "They will devastate the majesty of Egypt, destroying all of its hordes.

When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am Yahweh.

Son of man Wail thou over the multitude of Egypt and cause it to descend - her and to daughters of the famous nations - into the earth below with them who descend into the pit.

Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.

Into the midst of them who were thrust through by the sword, let them fall,-To the sword, hath she been delivered up, Lay ye hold of her and all her multitudes.

The strong among the great ones will say to him from the underworld, Are you more beautiful than any? go down, you and your helpers, and take your rest among those without circumcision, and those who have been put to the sword.

There is Asshur, and all her assembly, Round about him are his graves, All of them are wounded, who are falling by sword,

Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is around her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

In the midst of them who were thrust through, have they have placed a couch for her with all her multitude, Round about it, are her graves,-All of them, uncircumcised. Thrust through with the sword. For that their terror was caused in the land of the living. And so they have borne their confusion, with them who descend into the pit, In the midst of them who were thrust through, hath it been pleased.

There, are Meshech-Tuba and all her multitude, Round about it, are her graves, - All of them I uncircumcised Who were thrust through with the sword, For that they made themselves a terror in the land of the living;

And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to the grave, with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

Thou, therefore in the midst of the uncircumcised, shalt be overthrown. And shalt lie low with them who were thrust through by the sword.