Israel's Continuing Rebellion

¹qIn the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of rthe elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, sand sat before me. ²And the word of the Lord came to me: ³t“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? uAs I live, declares the Lord God, vI will not be inquired of by you. ⁴wWill you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? xLet them know the abominations of their fathers, ⁵and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: yOn the day when I chose Israel, zI swore1 to the offspring of the house of Jacob, amaking myself known to them in the land of Egypt; zI swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. ⁶On that day I swore to them that bI would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land bflowing with milk and honey, cthe most glorious of all lands. ⁷And I said to them, d‘Cast away the detestable things eyour eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with fthe idols of Egypt; gI am the Lord your God.’ ⁸hBut they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. iNone of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them jand spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹kBut I acted lfor the sake of my name, mthat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, nin whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰oSo I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹pI gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, qby which, if a person does them, he shall live. ¹²Moreover, I gave them rmy Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, sthat they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ¹³tBut the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. uThey did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; vand my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

t“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. ¹⁴But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, win whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵Moreover, xI swore to them in the wilderness ythat I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land zflowing with milk and honey, zthe most glorious of all lands, ¹⁶because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; afor their heart went after their idols. ¹⁷Nevertheless, bmy eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or cmake a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸“And I said to dtheir children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk ein the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, fnor defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹gI am the Lord your God; hwalk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, ²⁰and ikeep my Sabbaths holy that jthey may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ ²¹kBut the children lrebelled against me. mThey did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

n“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. ²²oBut I withheld my hand pand acted for the sake of my name, qthat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³rMoreover, sI swore to them in the wilderness tthat I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, ²⁴because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, uand their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. ²⁵vMoreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, ²⁶and I defiled them through wtheir very gifts win their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it xthat they might know that I am the Lord.

²⁷“Therefore, yson of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by zdealing treacherously with me. ²⁸For when I had brought them into the land that aI swore to give them, then wherever they saw bany high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented cthe provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹(I said to them, d‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah2 to this day.)

³⁰“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: eWill you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go fwhoring after their detestable things? ³¹When you present your gifts and goffer up your children in fire,3 you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And hshall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? iAs I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

³²j“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, k‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, land worship wood and stone.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

³³i“As I live, declares the Lord God, msurely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and nwith wrath poured out I will be king over you. ³⁴oI will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. ³⁵pAnd I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, qand there I will enter into judgment with you rface to face. ³⁶sAs I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. ³⁷I will make you tpass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸uI will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. vI will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, wbut they shall not enter the land of Israel. xThen you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: yGo serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; zbut my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

⁴⁰a“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there ball the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. cThere I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. ⁴¹As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when dI bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And eI will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. ⁴²fAnd you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that gI swore to give to your fathers. ⁴³hAnd there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, hand you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. ⁴⁴And you shall know that I am the Lord, iwhen I deal with you for my name's sake, jnot according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

⁴⁵4 And the word of the Lord came to me: ⁴⁶k“Son of man, lset your face toward the southland;5 mpreach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. ⁴⁷Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, nI will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every ogreen tree in you and every odry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and pall faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. ⁴⁸qAll flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” ⁴⁹Then I said, r“Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, s‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”