All the choice men [from Judah] in all his troops will fall by the sword, and those that survive will be scattered to every wind; and you will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have spoken.”

Thus saith the Lord GOD, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent:

This message came to me from the LORD:

He that hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man,

Or done wrong to any, or taken anything from one in his debt, or taken goods by force, but has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;

That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

Because his father {oppressed severely}; {he stole from his brother}; [that] which [is] not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through his guilt.

But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

Again, when a wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Because he considereth and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

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

And she raised up one from her cubs; he became a fierce lion, and he learned to tear prey; he ate humans.

And she saw that she was waiting [in vain]; her hope was destroyed, and she took one from her cubs, [and] she made him a fierce lion.

Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became,- And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;

And he knew his widows, and he laid their cities waste, and the land and its fullness was desolated, from the sound of his roaring.

Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

Your mother [was] like the vine in your vineyard; planted {fruitfully} beside water, and it was full of branches from many waters.

And there will be to her rods of strength to the rods of those ruling, and his stature will be lifted up between the thick boughs, and he will be seen in his height from the multitude of his branches.

And [so] fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and [there] was not in it {a strong branch}, a scepter for ruling.'" This [is] a lament, and {it will be used as a lament}.

And then in the seventh year, in the fifth [month], on the tenth [day] of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat {before me}.

Son of man, say to the responsible men of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Have you come to get directions from me? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no directions from me.

In the day that I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them forth from the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth from the land of Egypt.

Wherefore I caused them to go forth from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.

Yet I would not do it, for my name's sake: lest it should be dishonored before the Heathen, from the which I had carried them away.

Because they were turned away from my orders, and were not guided by my rules, and had no respect for my Sabbaths: for their hearts went after their images.

Nevertheless my eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

But I withdrew My hand and worked for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, from whom I brought them out in their eyes.

Because they had not done my orders, but had been turned away from my rules, and had not given respect to my Sabbaths, and their eyes were turned to the images of their fathers.

And when you give your offerings, causing your sons to go through the fire, you make yourselves unclean with all your images to this day; and will you come to me for directions, O children of Israel? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no direction from me.

The thing that you're imagining is never going to happen, since you're thinking, "We'll be like the nations, like the clans of other lands who serve gods made from wood and stone."'"

And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries in which ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an out-stretched arm, and with fury poured out.

And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

And you, O house of Israel, so says the Lord Jehovah: Every man go and serve his idols, and do so from now on if you will not listen to Me. But never again defile My holy name with your gifts and with your idols.

I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.

This message came to me from the LORD:

And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

This message came to me from the LORD:

And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!" '

This message came to me from the LORD:

This message came to me from the LORD:

Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both ways shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.

Go back into your cover. In the place where you were made, in the land from which you were taken, I will be your judge.

This message came to me from the LORD:

You are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.

Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous and much troubled.

In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained from thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your uncleanness from you.

This message came to me from the LORD:

"Son of Man, Israel has become like dross to me. All of them are like remnants of bronze, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace the dross left over from smelting silver.

Indeed, I'm going to gather you together and exhale the fire of my fury, and then you'll be melted from the inside out

like melting silver at the center of a furnace. When you've been melted from the center out, then you'll know that I am the LORD. I'll pour out my anger on you.'"

This message came to me from the LORD:

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

The people of the land have been acting cruelly, taking men's goods by force; they have been hard on the poor and those in need, and have done wrong to the man from a strange land.

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.

This message came to me from the LORD:

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

And she will give her whoredoms upon them from the choice of the sons of Assur all of them, and with all whom she desired; being defiled with all their blocks.

Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.

Girded with waistbands around their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looked like chariot officers, similar to the Babylonians from Chaldea, where they had been born.

"She lusted after them when she saw them, so she sent messengers to summon them from Chaldea.

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.

So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.

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 will come against you [with] an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd of peoples; they will set [themselves] against you [from] all around [with] large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give {before them} judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments.

I'll expend my jealousy on you so they'll deal with you in anger. They'll cut off your noses and your ears. Your survivors will die violently. They'll take your sons and daughters away from you, but your survivors will be incinerated.

Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

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:

This is what the Lord has said: You will take a drink from your sister's cup, which is deep and wide: you will be laughed at and looked down on, more than you are able to undergo.

but you'll drink from it and drain it completely. As for the vessel, you'll break it to pieces and you'll tear at your breasts, for I've spoken,' declares the Lord GOD.

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, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and robbed.

And {I will cause obscene conduct to cease from the land}, and all of the women will be warned, and they will not do according to your wickedness.

In the ninth year, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, this message came to me from the LORD:

Take the best bones from the flock, pile wood under the pot for the bones, bring it to a boil, and then cook the bones in it."'"

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe [to] the city of bloodguilt! A pot that [has] its rust in it; {its rust did not go out from it}. Bring it out {piece by piece}; {one is as good as another}.

“She has wearied Me with toil,
Yet her great rust has not gone from her;
Let her rust be in the fire!

In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

This message came to me from the LORD:

Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

So I responded, "This message came to me from the LORD:

Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,

This message came to me from the LORD:

Tell the Ammonites: "Listen to a message from the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you have said, "Aha!' about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it became desolate, and about the households of Judah when they went into exile,

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.

Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,

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.

This is what the Lord has said: Because Edom has taken his payment from the people of Judah, and has done great wrong in taking payment from them;