Ezekiel

Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.

And the word of GOD came to me:

O mortal, these men have turned their thoughts upon their fetishes and set their minds upon the sin through which they stumbled: Shall I respond to their inquiry?

Now speak to them and tell them: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: If anyone at all of the House of Israel turns their thoughts upon their fetishes and sets their mind upon the sin through which they stumbled, and yet comes to the prophet, I, GOD, will respond as they come withaas they come with Emendation yields “directly, because of”; cf. v. 7. their multitude of fetishes.

Thus I will hold the House of Israel to account for their thoughts, because they have all been estranged from Me through their fetishes.

Now say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: Repent, and turn back from your fetishes and turn your minds away from all your abominations.

For if anyone at all of the House of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, breaks away from Me and turns their thoughts upon their fetishes and sets their mind upon the sins through which they stumbled, and then goes to the prophet to inquire of Me through him, I, GOD, will respond directly.

I will set My face against that party and make them a sign and a byword, and I will cut them off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am GOD.

And if a prophet is seduced and does speak a word [to such people], it was I, GOD, who seduced that prophet; I will stretch out My hand and destroy that prophetbthat prophet Heb. “him.” from among My people Israel.

Thus they shall bear their punishment: The punishment of the inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same,

so that the House of Israel may never again stray from Me and defile itself with all its transgressions. Then they shall be My people and I will be their God—declares the Sovereign GOD.

The word of GOD came to me:

O mortal, if a land were to sin against Me and commit a trespass, and I stretched out My hand against it and broke its staff of bread, and sent famine against it and cut off human and animal from it,

even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—should be in it, they would by their righteousness save only themselves—declares the Sovereign GOD.

Or, if I were to send wild beasts to roam the land and they depopulated it, and it became a desolation with none passing through it because of the beasts,

as I live—declares the Sovereign GOD—those three men in it would save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would become a desolation.

Or, if I were to bring the sword upon that land and say, “Let a sword sweep through the land so that I may cut off from it human and animal,”

if those three men should be in it, as I live—declares the Sovereign GOD—they would save neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be saved.

Or, if I let loose a pestilence against that land, and poured out My fury upon it in blood, cutting off from it human and animal,

should Noah, Daniel, and Job be in it, as I live—declares the Sovereign GOD—they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save themselves alone by their righteousness.

Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign GOD: How much less [should any escape] now that I have let loose against Jerusalem all four of My terrible punishments—the sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence—to cut off human and animal from it!

Yet there are survivors left of it, sons and daughters who are being brought out.csons and daughters who are being brought out Several ancient versions read “who are bringing out sons and daughters.” They are coming out to you; and when you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem, for all that I brought on it.

You will be consoled through them, when you see their ways and their deeds and realize that not without cause did I do all that I did in it—declares the Sovereign GOD.