And I turned back my hand; and I will do for sake of my name, that it was not profaned before the eyes of the nations which I brought them forth before their eyes.

And I also, I have given to them statutes not good, And judgments by which they do not live.

For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.

Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So the name of it is called Bamah (High Place) to this day.”’

And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

And I have brought you forth from the peoples, And assembled you from the lands In which ye have been scattered, With a strong hand and with a stretched-out arm, And with fury poured out.

“I will make you pass under the rod [as the shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and constrain you] and bring you into the bond of the covenant [to which you are permanently bound].

With sweet fragrance I do accept you, In My bringing you out from the peoples, And I have assembled you from the lands In which ye have been scattered, And I have been sanctified in you Before the eyes of the nations.

And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils which ye have committed.

Declare to Israel, "This is what the LORD says: "Watch out! I'm against you! I'm going to unsheathe my sword to kill both the righteous and the wicked among you.

And if they say, 'Wherefore mournest thou?' Then tell them, 'For the tidings that cometh, at the which all hearts shall melt, all hands shall be letten down, all stomachs shall faint, and all knees shall wax feeble.' Behold, it cometh, and shall be fulfilled, sayeth the LORD God.'"

Son of man, say as a prophet, These are the words of the Lord: Say, A sword, a sword which has been made sharp and polished:

To make a slaughter, is it sharpened, That it may flash as lightning, is it furbished. Or shall we flourish the royal rod of my son which despiseth every tree?

Cry, O thou son of man, and howl: for this sword shall smite my people, and all the rulers in Israel, which with my people shall be slain down to the ground through this sword. Smite therefore thou upon thy thigh, for it is gone forth to make a trial.

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

Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

And thou, son of man, set thee two ways, by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come out of one land shall they both come and make thee a signpost, make it at the head of the way to the city.

In his right hand was the divination of Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, to open the mouth in breaking in pieces, to lift up the voice with a loud noise, to set battering-rams against the gates, to throw up a mound, to build a watch-tower.

thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this'shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

Perverted, perverted, perverted, will I set her: and this was not till he came which to him the judgment; and I gave him.

because thou hast looked thee out vanities, and prophesied lies, that it may come upon thy neck like as upon the other ungodly which be slain: whose day came, when their wickedness was full.

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.

and pour my indignation upon thee, and will blow upon thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee unto cruel people, which are learned to destroy.

Then say, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity),

Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

"""Watch out! Each of the princes of Israel has misused his authority to shed blood.

Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong at the days [in] which I [am] dealing with you? I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!

And I will send you in flight among the nations and wandering among the countries; and I will completely take away out of you everything which is unclean.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, "Because all of you have become dross, watch out! I'm going to gather all of you at the center of Jerusalem,

Son of man, say to her, You are a land on which no rain or thunderstorm has come in the day of wrath.

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

And she bestowed her fornication on them, [on] the choice [ones] of the {Assyrians}, all of them, and with every one [after] which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself.

By these her shame was uncovered: they took her sons and daughters and put her to death with the sword: and she became a cause of wonder to women; for they gave her the punishment which was right.

And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister.

she loved the Assyrians, which also lay with her: namely, the princes and great lords, that were clothed with all manner of gorgeous apparel, all lusty horsemen and fair young persons.

Yet she multiplied her depravities, remembering the days of her youth, when she was actively immoral in the land of Egypt.

Namely, the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans: Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, with all the Assyrians: all young and fair lovers, princes and lords, knights and gentlemen, which be all good horsemen.

And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

When I set forth my jealousy against thee, Then will they deal with thee in indignation, :Thy nose and thine ears, will they remove, And that which is left of thee, by the sword, shall fall, - They, will take away thy sons and thy daughters, And that which is left of thee, shall be devoured by the fire;

So I will put an end to your indecency and sexual immorality, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not look longingly at them or remember Egypt anymore.

For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am giving thee into a hand that thou hast hated, Into a hand from which thou wast alienated.

Which shall deal cruelly with thee: All thy labour shall they take with them, and leave thee naked and bare, and thus the shame of thy filthy whoredom shall come to light.

All these things shall happen unto thee because of thy whoredom, which thou hast used among the Gentiles, with whose Idols thou hast defiled thyself.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.

‘You will drink it and drain it,
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;

for I have spoken,’ says 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 you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.

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 this is what the Lord has said: A curse is on the town of blood, the cooking-pot which is unclean inside, which has never been made clean! take out its bits; its fate is still to come on it.

I have made myself tired to no purpose: still all the waste which is in her has not come out, it has an evil smell.

And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, which thou doest?

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.

And Ezekiel was to you for a wonder: according to all which he did ye shall do: in its coming, and ye knew that I am the Lord Jehovah.

And as for you, son of man, your mouth will be shut in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which their hearts are fixed, and their sons and daughters.

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto 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.

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.'"

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,

A great vengeance will I take upon them, and punish them cruelly: that they may know how that I am the LORD, which have avenged me of them.'"

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm coming to get you, Tyre! I'm about to bring many nations to attack you. They'll come in wave after wave, like the advancing tide,

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

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm about to bring from the north King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, that king of kings. He'll come with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a vast army.

Thy daughters in the field he shall slay with the sword: and he gave a watch-tower against thee, and he threw up a mound against thee, and lifted up the buckler against thee.

By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach.

They will take by force all your wealth and go off with the goods with which you do trade: they will have your walls broken down and all the houses of your desire given up to destruction: they will put your stones and your wood and your dust deep in the water.

I will make you [Tyre] a bare rock; you will be a dry place on which to spread nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,” says the Lord God.

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

‘Now the coastlands will tremble
On the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea
Will be terrified at your passing.’”

For this is what the Lord has said: I will make you a waste town, like the towns which are unpeopled; when I make the deep come upon you, covering you with great waters.

Then will I cast thee down unto them, that descend into the pit, unto a people that hath been long dead, and set thee in a land that is beneath, like the old wilderness, with them which go down to their graves, so that no man shall dwell more in thee. And I will make thee to be no more in honor, in the land of the living.

And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

Javan, Tubal and Meshech were thy merchants, which brought the men, and ornaments of metal for thy occupying.

Edom did business with you because of the great number of things which you made; they gave emeralds, purple, and needlework, and the best linen and coral and rubies for your goods.

The merchants of Sheba and Raamah have occupied also with thee, in all costly spices, in all precious stones and gold, which they brought unto thy markets.

They were your merchants in choice garments, cloaks of blue and embroidered materials, and multicolored carpets, which were bound and secured with cords in your marketplace.

Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

See, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret which is deeper than your knowledge:

“You were the anointed cherub who covers and protects,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire [sparkling jewels].

For I will send pestilence and blood shedding into her streets, so that those which be slain with the sword shall lie round about in the midst of her: and they shall know, that I am the LORD.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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.

"When I gather the house of Israel from the nations to which I've scattered them, I will show them my holiness before the watching world, and they will live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live in safety in the land, building houses and planting vineyards. They'll live in safety while I judge everyone who maligns them among those who surround them. At that time they'll learn that I am the LORD their God.'"

Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales; and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, with all the fish of thy rivers which stick unto thy scales.

that all they which dwell in Egypt, may know, that I am the LORD: because thou hast been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

therefore watch out! I'm coming to get you! I'm going to attack your waterways, and then I'm going to make the land of Egypt a total wasteland from the Aswan fortress to the border of Ethiopia!

I will make the land of Egypt a waste among the countries which are made waste, and her towns will be unpeopled among the towns which have been made waste, for forty years: and I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.

I will let the fate of Egypt be changed, and will make them come back into the land of Pathros, into the land from which they came; and there they will be an unimportant kingdom.

And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, made his army do hard work against Tyre, and the hair came off every head and every arm was rubbed smooth: but he and his army got no payment out of Tyre for the hard work which he had done against it.

For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon: he will take away her wealth, and take her goods by force and everything which is there; and this will be the payment for his army.

I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

And she will be made waste among the countries which have been made waste, and her towns will be among the towns which are unpeopled.

"When that happens, couriers will go out in ships to terrify Ethiopia in its complacency. Anguish will visit them as it will visit Egypt. Watch out! It's coming!'"

Alexandria will I punish and pour my wrathful indignation upon Sin which is the strength of Egypt. All the substance of Alexandria will I destroy,

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

Yea I will establish the king of Babylon's arm, and the armies of Pharaoh shall fall down: that it may be known that I am the LORD, which give the king of Babylon my sword in his hand, that he may draw it out upon the land of Egypt.