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| And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any
tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? |
| Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will
men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? |
| Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire
devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet
for any work? |
| Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work:
how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath
devoured it, and it is burned? |
| Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree
among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel,
so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
| And I will set my face against them; they shall go
out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know
that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. |
| And I will make the land desolate, because they have
committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD. |
| Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her
abominations, |
| And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy
birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an
Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. |
| And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born
thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee;
thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. |
| None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee,
to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field,
to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. |
| And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in
thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live;
yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. |
| I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the
field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to
excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown,
whereas thou wast naked and bare. |
| Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee,
behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a
covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. |
| Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly
washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. |
| I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod
thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I
covered thee with silk. |
| I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put
bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. |
| And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in
thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. |
| Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy
raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat
fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and
thou didst prosper into a kingdom. |
| And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy
beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon
thee, saith the Lord GOD. |
| But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and
playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy
fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. |
| And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst
thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon:
the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. |
| Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and
of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of
men, and didst commit whoredom with them, |
| And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst
them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. |
| My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil,
and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a
sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD. |
| Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters,
whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them
to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, |
| That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them
to cause them to pass through the fire for them? |
| And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou
hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and
bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. |
| And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe,
woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;) |
| That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent
place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. |
| Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the
way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet
to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. |
| Thou hast also committed fornication with the
Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy
whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. |
| Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over
thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto
the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which
are ashamed of thy lewd way. |
| Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians,
because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with
them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. |
| Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the
land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. |
| How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing
thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; |
| In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the
head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast
not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; |
| But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh
strangers instead of her husband! |
| They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy
gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee
on every side for thy whoredom. |
| And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy
whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that
thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou
art contrary. |
| Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: |
| "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy
filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy
whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations,
and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; |
| And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock
and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and
jealousy. |
| And I will also give thee into their hand, and they
shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high
places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy
fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. |
| They shall also bring up a company against thee, and
they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their
swords. |
| And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and
execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause
thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire
any more. |
| So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my
jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no
more angry. |
| Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy
youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also
will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou
shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations. |
| Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this
proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. |
| Thou art thy mother's daughter, that loatheth her
husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which
loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite,
and your father an Amorite. |
| And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her
daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that
dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. |
| Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done
after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou
wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. |
| As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath
not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy
daughters. |
| Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom,
pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her
daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. |
| And they were haughty, and committed abomination
before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. |
| Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but
thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast
justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. |
| Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine
own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than
they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also,
and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters. |
| When I shall bring again their captivity, the
captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and
her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in
the midst of them: |
| That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be
confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto
them. |
| When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall
return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall
return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return
to your former estate. |
| For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth
in the day of thy pride, |
| Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time
of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about
her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. |
| Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations,
saith the LORD. |
| For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with
thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the
covenant. |
| Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee
in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting
covenant. |
| Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed,
when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I
will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. |
| And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou
shalt know that I am the LORD: |
| That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and
never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified
toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD. |
| And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable
unto the house of Israel; |
| And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with
great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours,
came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: |
| He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and
carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. |
| He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it
in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a
willow tree. |
| And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low
stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were
under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot
forth sprigs. |
| There was also another great eagle with great wings
and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him,
and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the
furrows of her plantation. |
| It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that
it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it
might be a goodly vine. |
| Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper?
shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof,
that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even
without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. |
| Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall
it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither
in the furrows where it grew. |
| Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what
these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to
Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and
led them with him to Babylon; |
| And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a
covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the
mighty of the land: |
| That the kingdom might be base, that it might not
lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. |
| But he rebelled against him in sending his
ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people.
Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he
break the covenant, and be delivered? |
| As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place
where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and
whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall
die. |
| Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great
company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building
forts, to cut off many persons: |
| Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the
covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these
things, he shall not escape. |
| Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely
mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken,
even it will I recompense upon his own head. |
| And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be
taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with
him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. |
| And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall
by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds:
and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it. |
| Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the
highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from
the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high
mountain and eminent: |
| In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant
it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly
cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of
the branches thereof shall they dwell. |
| And all the trees of the field shall know that I the
LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have
dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the
LORD have spoken and have done it. |
| The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, |
| What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning
the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge? |
| As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have
occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. |
| Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it
shall die. |
| But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful
and right, |
| And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath
lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath
defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous
woman, |
| And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the
debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread
to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; |
| He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither
hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity,
hath executed true judgment between man and man, |
| Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my
judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the
Lord GOD. |
| If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of
blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, |
| And that doeth not any of those duties, but even
hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife, |
| Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by
violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to
the idols, hath committed abomination, |
| Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken
increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these
abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. |
| Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his
father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such
like, |
| That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath
lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled
his neighbour's wife, |
| Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the
pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to
the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, |
| That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that
hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath
walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father,
he shall surely live. |
| As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed,
spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among
his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. |
| Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity
of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right,
and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. |
| The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall
not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the
iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. |
| But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that
he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful
and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. |
| All his transgressions that he hath committed, they
shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done
he shall live. |
| Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should
die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways,
and live? |
| But when the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the
abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his
righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass
that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them
shall he die. |
| Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear
now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? |
| When a righteous man turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his
iniquity that he hath done shall he die. |
| Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his
wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and
right, he shall save his soul alive. |
| Because he considereth, and turneth away from all
his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he
shall not die. |
| Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord
is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your
ways unequal? |
| Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every
one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn
yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your
ruin. |
| Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby
ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why
will ye die, O house of Israel? |
| For I have no pleasure in the death of him that
dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. |
| Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes
of Israel, |
| And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down
among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. |
| And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a
young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. |
| The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their
pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. |
| Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope
was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young
lion. |
| And he went up and down among the lions, he became a
young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. |
| And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid
waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof,
by the noise of his roaring. |
| Then the nations set against him on every side from
the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. |
| And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him
to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice
should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. |
| Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by
the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many
waters. |
| And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them
that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches,
and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. |
| But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to
the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were
broken and withered; the fire consumed them. |
| And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry
and thirsty ground. |
| And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which
hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre
to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. |
| And it came to pass 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. |
| Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say
unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to inquire of me? As I
live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. |
| Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge
them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers: |
| And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the
day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the
house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt,
when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God; |
| In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to
bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for
them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: |
| Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the
abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of
Egypt: I am the LORD your God. |
| But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken
unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their
eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will
pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the
midst of the land of Egypt. |
| But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not
be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I
made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of
Egypt. |
| Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land
of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. |
| And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my
judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. |
| Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign
between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that
sanctify them. |
| But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the
wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my
judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my
sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury
upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. |
| But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not
be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. |
| Yet also I lifted up my hand unto 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; |
| Because they despised my judgments, and walked not
in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after
their idols. |
| Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying
them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. |
| But I said unto their children in the wilderness,
Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their
judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: |
| I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and
keep my judgments, and do them; |
| And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign
between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. |
| Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me:
they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them,
which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths:
then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger
against them in the wilderness. |
| Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for
my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the
heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. |
| I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the
wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse
them through the countries; |
| Because they had not executed my judgments, but had
despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were
after their fathers' idols. |
| Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not
good, and judgments whereby they should not live; |
| And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they
caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might
make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD. |
| Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of
Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your
fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass
against me. |
| 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 unto them, What is the high place
whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. |
| Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and
commit ye whoredom after their abominations? |
| For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons
to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols,
even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of
Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. |
| 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. |
| As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty
hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I
rule over you: |
| And I will bring you out from the people, and will
gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty
hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. |
| And I will bring you into the wilderness of the
people, and there will I plead with you face to face. |
| Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the
wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the
Lord GOD. |
| And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I
will bring you into the bond of the covenant: |
| And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and
them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the
country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of
Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. |
| As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord
GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will
not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your
gifts, and with your idols. |
| For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the
height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of
Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and
there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your
oblations, with all your holy things. |
| I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I
bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries
wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before
the heathen. |
| 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 that ye have committed. |
| And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have
wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways,
nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the
Lord GOD. |
| Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop
thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south
field; |
| And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of
the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee,
and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the
flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the
north shall be burned therein. |
| And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled
it: it shall not be quenched. |
| Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he
not speak parables? |
| And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop
thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of
Israel, |
| And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his
sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. |
| Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the
righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his
sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: |
| That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn
forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. |
| Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking
of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. |
| And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore
sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it
cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and
every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold,
it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. |
| Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD;
Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: |
| It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is
furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth
the rod of my son, as every tree. |
| And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be
handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into
the hand of the slayer. |
| Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my
people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of
the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. |
| Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn
even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD. |
| 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. |
| I have set the point of the sword against all their
gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it
is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. |
| Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand,
or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. |
| I will also smite mine hands together, and I will
cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it. |
| The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, |
| Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that
the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth
out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the
way to the city. |
| Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of
the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. |
| For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the
way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows
bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. |
| At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem,
to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the
voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to
cast a mount, and to build a fort. |
| And it shall be unto them as a false divination in
their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to
remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. |
| Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have
made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are
discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I
say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. |
| And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day
is come, when iniquity shall have an end, |
| Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take
off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and
abase him that is high. |
| I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it
shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it
him. |
| And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith
the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach;
even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is
furbished, to consume because of the glittering: |
| Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
|
| Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will
judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy
nativity. |
| And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I
will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into
the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. |
| Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall
be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the
LORD have spoken it. |
| Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou
judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations. |
| Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city
sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh
idols against herself to defile herself. |
| 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. |
| Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in
thee to their power to shed blood. |
| In thee have they set light by father and mother: in
the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in
thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. |
| Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast
profaned my sabbaths. |
| In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and
in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit
lewdness. |
| In thee have they discovered their fathers'
nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for
pollution. |
| And one hath committed abomination with his
neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law;
and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. |
| In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou
hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy
neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. |
| 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 thine heart endure, or can thine hands be
strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken
it, and will do it. |
| And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and
disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of
thee. |
| And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in
the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. |
| And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become
dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of
the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. |
| Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are
all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of
Jerusalem. |
| As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and
lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it,
to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I
will leave you there, and melt you. |
| Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the
fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. |
| As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so
shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the
LORD have poured out my fury upon you. |
| And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is
not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. |
| There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst
thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured
souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made
her many widows in the midst thereof. |
| Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned
mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and
profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the
clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among
them. |
| Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves
ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest
gain. |
| And her prophets have daubed them with untempered
mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith
the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. |
| The people of the land have used oppression, and
exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have
oppressed the stranger wrongfully. |
| And I sought for a man among them, that should make
up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should
not destroy it: but I found none. |
| Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon
them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have
I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. |
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