Ezekiel 20

¹Now it came about in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the responsible men of Israel came to get directions from the Lord and were seated before me.

²Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³Son 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.

⁴Will you be their judge, O son of man, will you be their judge? make clear to them the disgusting ways of their fathers,

⁵And say to them, This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I took Israel for myself, when I made an oath to the seed of the family of Jacob, and I gave them knowledge of myself in the land of Egypt, saying to them with an oath, I am the Lord your God;

⁶In that day I gave my oath to take them out of the land of Egypt into a land which I had been searching out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands:

⁷And I said to them, Let every man among you put away the disgusting things to which his eyes are turned, and do not make yourselves unclean with the images of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

⁸But they would not be controlled by me, and did not give ear to me; they did not put away the disgusting things to which their eyes were turned, or give up the images of Egypt: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the land of Egypt.

⁹And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean before the eyes of the nations among whom they were, and before whose eyes I gave them knowledge of myself, by taking them out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰So I made them go out of the land of Egypt and took them into the waste land.

¹¹And I gave them my rules and made clear to them my orders, which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him.

¹²And further, I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, so that it might be clear that I, who make them holy, am the Lord.

¹³But 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.

¹⁴And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean in the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had taken them out.

¹⁵And further, I gave my oath to them in the waste land, that I would not take them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands;

¹⁶Because 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.

¹⁷But still my eye had pity on them and I kept them from destruction and did not put an end to them completely in the waste land.

¹⁸And I said to their children in the waste land, Do not be guided by the rules of your fathers or keep their orders or make yourselves unclean with their images:

¹⁹I am the Lord your God; be guided by my rules and keep my orders and do them:

²⁰And keep my Sabbaths holy; and they will be a sign between me and you so that it may be clear to you that I am the Lord your God.

²¹But the children would not be controlled by me; they were not guided by my rules, and they did not keep and do my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the waste land.

²²And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean in the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had taken them out.

²³Further, I gave my oath to them in the waste land that I would send them wandering among the nations, driving them out among the countries;

²⁴Because 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.

²⁵And further, I gave them rules which were not good and orders in which there was no life for them;

²⁶I made them unclean in the offerings they gave, causing them to make every first child go through the fire, so that I might put an end to them.

²⁷For this cause, son of man, say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: In this your fathers have further put shame on my name by doing wrong against me.

²⁸For when I had taken them into the land which I made an oath to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every branching tree and made their offerings there, moving me to wrath by their offerings; and there the sweet smell of their offerings went up and their drink offerings were drained out.

²⁹Then I said to them, What is this high place where you go to no purpose? And it is named Bamah to this day.

³⁰For this cause say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Are you making yourselves unclean as your fathers did? are you being untrue to me by going after their disgusting works?

³¹And 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.

³²And that which comes into your minds will never take place; when you say, We will be like the nations, like the families of the countries, servants of wood and stone;

³³By my life, says the Lord, truly, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with burning wrath let loose, I will be King over you:

³⁴And I will take you out from the peoples and get you together out of the countries where you are wandering, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with burning wrath let loose:

³⁵And I will take you into the waste land of the peoples, and there I will take up the cause with you face to face.

³⁶As I took up the cause with your fathers in the waste land of the land of Egypt, so will I take up the cause with you says the Lord.

³⁷And I will make you go under the rod and will make you small in number:

³⁸Clearing out from among you all those who are uncontrolled and who are sinning against me; I will take them out of the land where they are living, but they will not come into the land of Israel: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

³⁹As for you, O children of Israel, the Lord has said: Let every man completely put away his images and give ear to me: and let my holy name no longer be shamed by your offerings and your images.

⁴⁰For in my holy mountain, in the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord, there all the children of Israel, all of them, will be my servants in the land; there I will take pleasure in them, and there I will be worshipped with your offerings and the first-fruits of the things you give, and with all your holy things.

⁴¹I will take pleasure in you as in a sweet smell, when I take you out from the peoples and get you together from the countries where you have been sent in flight; and I will make myself holy in you before the eyes of the nations.

⁴²And you will be certain that I am the Lord, when I take you into the land of Israel, into the country which I made an oath to give to your fathers.

⁴³And there, at the memory of your ways and of all the things you did to make yourselves unclean, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of all the evil things you have done.

⁴⁴And you will be certain that I am the Lord, when I take you in hand for the honour of my name, and not for your evil ways or your unclean doings, O children of Israel, says the Lord.

⁴⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁴⁶Son of man, let your face be turned to the south, let your words be dropped to the south, and be a prophet against the woodland of the South;

⁴⁷And say to the woodland of the South, Give ear to the words of the Lord: this is what the Lord has said: See, I will have a fire lighted in you, for the destruction of every green tree in you and every dry tree: the flaming flame will not be put out, and all faces from the south to the north will be burned by it.

⁴⁸And all flesh will see that I the Lord have had it lighted: it will not be put out.

⁴⁹Then I said, Ah, Lord! they say of me, Is he not a maker of stories?

Ezekiel 20

¹It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.

²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you."'

⁴Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

⁵and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, 'I am the Lord your God';

⁶in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

⁷I said to them, 'Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.'

⁸But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they each didn't throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰"'"So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.

¹²Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

¹⁴But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

¹⁵"'"Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

¹⁶because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

¹⁷Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸"'"I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

¹⁹I am the Lord your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;

²⁰and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'

²¹But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

²²Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.

²³Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;

²⁴because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

²⁵Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;

²⁶and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."'

²⁷"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

²⁸For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.

²⁹Then I said to them, 'What does the high place where you go mean?' So its name is called Bamah to this day."'

³⁰"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you play the prostitute after their abominations?

³¹And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you;

³²and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, 'We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.'

³³As I live," says the Lord God, "surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:

³⁴and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

³⁵and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

³⁶Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you," says the Lord God.

³⁷"I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

³⁸and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord."

³⁹"'As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: "Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

⁴⁰For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel," says the Lord God, "there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

⁴¹As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.

⁴²You shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

⁴³There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.

⁴⁴You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel," says the Lord God.'"

⁴⁵The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁴⁶"Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

⁴⁷and tell the forest of the South, 'Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.

⁴⁸All flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."'"

⁴⁹Then I said, "Ah Lord God! They say of me, 'Isn't he a speaker of parables?'"