For the seller will not return to the merchandise {while they are still alive}, for the vision [is] about all of its multitude; it will not change, and a man because of his guilt will not be able to hold onto his life.

And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, [at] the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, [there were] about twenty-five men [with] their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they [were] bowing down toward the east before the sun.

And Yahweh said to him, "Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men {who are groaning and lamenting} about all of the detestable things {that are being done} in the midst of her."

Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "This oracle [is about] the prince in Jerusalem and {the entire} house of Israel {who are among them}." '

And you must say to the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land of Israel: "They will eat their food with anxiety and their water they will drink with horror, because their land will be desolate from its fullness because of all the violence of {those who are dwelling in it}.

"Son of man, what [is] this proverb {you people have} about the land of Israel, {saying}, '{The days are prolonged}, and every vision has come to nothing.'

" 'And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, "Live!

And [in] all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood {when you were naked and bare}, [when] you were kicking about in your blood.

therefore, look! I [am] gathering all of your lovers {whom you were pleased about}, and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from {everywhere}, and I [will] uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness.

And I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my hunting net, and I will bring him [to] Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there [about] his infidelity that he displayed against me.

"{What do you mean by} quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, {saying}, 'The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.'

[and] in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps, {performing faithfully} --[then] he is righteous, [and] certainly he will live," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

"And you, raise a lament about the leaders of Israel,

And nations heard about him; in their pit he was caught, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

And he walked about in the midst of lions; he became a fierce lion, and he learned to tear prey; he ate humans.

Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, they are saying about me, '[Is] he not posing a parable?'"

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples to which they were scattered [about] in them, and I show myself holy in them before the eyes of the nations, then they will live on their soil, which I gave to my servant Jacob.

"Son of man, raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, '[With] a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself, and you [are] like the sea monster in the seas, and you thrash about in your rivers, and you make water turbid with your feet, and you make your rivers muddy.

"And I will disturb [the] hearts of many peoples at my bringing [about] your captivity among the nations, to countries that you do not know.

"Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{Not for your sake} [am] I about to act, house of Israel, {but} {for my holy name}, which you defiled among the nations {to which you went}.

Look! [it is] coming, and it will happen," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "It is the day {about which I have spoken}.