Chapter 17
[1] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] Son of man, relate a tale, and speak a parable to the house of Israel: [3] and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; A great eagle with large wings, spreading them out very far, with many claws, which has the design of entering into Libanus — and he took the choice branches of the cedar: [4] he cropped off the ends of the tender twigs, and brought them into the land of Chanaan; he laid them up in a walled city. [5] And he took of the seed of the land, and sowed it in a field planted by much water; he set it in a conspicuous place. [6] And it sprang up, and became a weak and little vine, so that the branches thereof appeared upon it, and its roots were under it: and it became a vine, and put forth shoots, and sent forth its tendrils.
[7] And there was another great eagle, with great wings and many claws: and, behold, this vine bent itself round toward him, and her roots were turned towards him, and she sent forth her branches towards him, that he might water her together with the growth of her plantation. [8] She thrives in a fair field by much water, to produce shoots and bear fruit, that she might become a great vine.
[9] Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord; Shall it prosper? shall not the roots of her tender stem and her fruit be blighted? yea, all her early shoots shall be dried up, and that not by a mighty arm, nor by many people, to tear her up from her roots. [10] And, behold, it thrives: shall it prosper? shall it not wither as soon as the east wind touches it? it shall be withered together with the growth of its shoots.
[11] Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying, [12] Son of man, say now to the provoking house, Know ye not what these things were? say to them, Whenever the king of Babylon shall come against Jerusalem, then he shall take her king and her princes, and shall take them home to Babylon. [13] And he shall take of the seed royal, and shall make a covenant with him, and shall bind him with an oath: and he shall take the princes of the land: [14] that it may become a weak kingdom, so as never to lift itself up, that he may keep his covenant, and establish it. [15] And if he shall revolt from him, to send his messengers into Egypt, that they may give him horses and much people; shall he prosper? shall he that acts as an adversary be preserved? and shall he that transgresses the covenant be preserved?
[16] As I live, saith the Lord, verily in the place where the king is that made him king, who dishonoured my oath, and who broke my covenant, shall he die with him in the midst of Babylon. [17] And Pharaoh shall make war upon him not with a large force or great multitude, in throwing up a mound, and in building of forts, to cut off souls. [18] Whereas he has profaned the oath so as to break the covenant, when, behold, I engage his hand, and he has done all these things to him, he shall not escape.
[19] Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord; As I live, surely mine oath which he has profaned, and my covenant which he has transgressed, I will even recompense it upon his head. [20] And I will spread a net upon him, and he shall be caught in its snare. [21] In every battle of his they shall fall by the sword, and I will scatter his remnant to every wind: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.
[22] For thus saith the Lord; I will even take of the choice branches of the cedar from the top thereof, I will crop off their hearts, and I will plant it on a high mountain: [23] and I will hang it on a lofty mountain of Israel: yea, I will plant it, and it shall put forth shoots, and shall bear fruit, and it shall be a great cedar: and every bird shall rest beneath it, even every fowl shall rest under its shadow: its branches shall be restored. [24] And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord that bring low the high tree, and exalt the low tree, and wither the green tree, and cause the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken, and will do it.
Chapter 18
[1] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] Son of man, what mean ye by this parable among the children of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten unripe grapes, and the children’s teeth have been set on edge?
[3] As I live, saith the Lord, surely this parable shall no more be spoken in Israel. [4] For all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son, they are mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
[5] But the man who shall be just, who executes judgment and righteousness, [6] who shall not eat upon the mountains, and shall not at all lift up his eyes to the devices of the house of Israel, and shall not defile his neighbor’s wife, and shall not draw nigh to her that is removed, [7] and shall not oppress any man, but shall return the pledge of the debtor, and shall be guilty of no plunder, shall give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked; [8] and shall not lend his money upon usury, and shall not receive usurious increase, and shall turn back his hand from injustice, shall execute righteous judgement between a man and his neighbor, [9] and has walked in my commandments and kept mine ordinances, to do them; he is righteous, he shall surely live, saith the Lord.
[10] And if he beget a mischievous son, shedding blood and committing sins, [11] who has not walked in the way of his righteous father, but has even eaten upon the mountains, and has defiled his neighbor’s wife, [12] and has oppressed the poor and needy, and has committed robbery, and not restored a pledge, and has set his eyes upon idols, has wrought iniquities, [13] has lent upon usury, and taken usurious increase; he shall by no means live: he has wrought all these iniquities; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
[14] And if he beget a son, and the son see all his father’s sins which he has wrought, and fear, and not do according to them, [15] and if he has not eaten on the mountains, and has not set his eyes on the devices of the house of Israel, and has not defiled his neighbor’s wife, [16] and has not oppressed a man, and has not retained the pledge, nor committed robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has clothed the naked, [17] and has turned back his hand from unrighteousness, has not received interest or usurious increase, has wrought righteousness, and walked in mine ordinances; he shall not die for the iniquities of his father, he shall surely live. [18] But if his father grievously afflict, or plunder, he has wrought enmity in the midst of my people, and shall die in his iniquity.
[19] But ye will say, Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the father? Because the son has wrought judgement and mercy, has kept all my statues, and done them, he shall surely live. [20] But the soul that sins shall die: and the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the transgressor shall be upon him.
[21] And if the transgressor turn away from all his iniquities which he has committed, and keep all my commandments, and do justice and mercy, he shall surely live, and shall no means die. [22] None of his trespasses which he has committed shall be remembers: in his righteousness which he has done he shall live. [23] Shall I at all desire death of the sinner, saith the Lord, as I desire that he should turn from his evil way, and live?
[24] But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, according to all the transgressions which the transgressor has wrought, none of his righteousness which he has wrought shall be at all remembered: in his trespass wherein he has trespassed, and in his sins wherein he has sinned, in them shall he die.
[25] Yet ye have said, The way of the Lord is not straight. Hear now, all the house of Israel; will not my way be straight? Is your way straight? [26] When the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits a trespass, and dies in the trespass he has committed, he shall even die in it. [27] And when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and shall do judgement and justice, he has kept his soul, [28] and has turned away from all his ungodliness which he has committed: he shall surely live, he shall not die.
[29] Yet the house of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not right. Is not my way right, O house of Israel? is not your way wrong? [30] I will judge you, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, each one according to his way: be converted, and turn from all your ungodliness, and
it shall not become to you the punishment of iniquity. [31] Cast away from yourselves all your ungodliness wherein ye have sinned against me; and make to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: for why should ye die, O house of Israel? [32] For I desire not the death of him that dies, saith the Lord.
Chapter 19
[1] Moreover do thou take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel, [2] and say, Why is thy mother become a whelp in the midst of lions? in the midst of lions she has multiplied her whelps. [3] And one of her whelps sprang forth; he became a lion, and learned to take prey, he devoured men. [4] And the nations heard a report of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him into the land of Egypt in chains.
[5] And she saw that he was driven away from her, and her hope of him perished, and she took another of her whelps; she made him a lion. [6] And he went up and down in the midst of lions, he became a lion, and learned to take prey, he devoured men. [7] And he prowled in his boldness and laid waste their cities, and made the land desolate, and the fullness of it, by the voice of his roaring.
[8] Then the nations set upon him from the countries round about, and they spread their nets upon him: he was taken in their pit. [9] And they put him in chains and in a cage, and he came to the king of Babylon; and he cast him into prison, that his voice should not be heard on the mountains of Israel. [10] Thy mother was as a vine and as a blossom on a pomegranate tree, planted by water: her fruit and her shoot abounded by reason of much water. [11] And she became a rod for a tribe of princes, and was elevated in her bulk in the midst of other trees, and she saw her bulk in the multitude of her branches.
[12] But she was broken down in wrath, she was cast upon the ground, and the east wind dried up her choice branches: vengeance came upon them, and the rod of her strength was withered; fire consumed it. [13] And now they have planted her in the wilderness, in a dry land. [14] And fire is gone out of a rod of her choice boughs, and has devoured her; and there was no rod of strength in her. Her race is become a parable of lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.
Chapter 20
[1] And it came to pass in the seventh year, on the fifteenth day of the month, there came men of the elders of the house of Israel to enquire of the Lord, and they sat before me. [2] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [3] Son of man, speak to the elders of the house of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, I will not be enquired of by you, saith the Lord. [4] Shall I utterly take vengeance on them, son of man? testify to them of the iniquities of their fathers: [5] and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord;
From the day that I chose the house of Israel, and became known to the seed of the house of Jacob, and was known to them in the land of Egypt, and helped them with my hand, saying, I am the Lord your God; [6] in that day I helped them with my hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land which I prepared for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, it is abundant beyond every land. [7] And I said to them, Let every one cast away the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the devices of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
[8] But they revolted from me, and would not hearken to me: they cast not away the abominations of their eyes, and forsook not the devices of Egypt: then I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my wrath upon them in the midst of Egypt. [9] But I wrought so that my name should not be at all profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in the midst of whom they are, among whom I was made known to them in their sight, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
[10] And I brought them into the wilderness. [11] And I gave them my commandments, and made known to them mine ordinances, all which if a man shall do, he shall even live in them. [12] And I gave them my sabbaths, that they should be for a sign between me and them, that they should know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
[13] And I said to the house of Israel in the wilderness, Walk ye in my commandments: but they walked not in them, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man shall do, he shall even live in them; and they grievously profaned my sabbaths: and I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. [14] But I wrought so that my name should not be at all profaned before the Gentiles, before whose eyes I brought them out.
[15] But I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness once for all, that I would not bring them into the land which I gave them, a land flowing with milk and honey, it is sweeter than all lands: [16] because they rejected mine ordinances, and walked not in my commandments, but profaned my sabbaths, and went after the imaginations of their hearts.
[17] Yet mine eyes spared them, so as not to destroy them utterly, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. [18] And I said to their children in the wilderness, Walk not ye in the customs of your fathers, and keep not their ordinances, and have no fellowship with their practices, nor defile yourselves with them. [19] I am the Lord your God; walk in my commandments, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; [20] and hallow my sabbaths, and let them be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.
[21] But they provoked me, and their children walked not in my commandments, and they took no heed to mine ordinances to do them, which if a man shall do, he shall even live in them, and they profaned my sabbaths: then I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to accomplish mine anger upon them. [22] But I wrought so that my name might not be at all profaned before the Gentiles; and I brought them out in their sight.
[23] I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles, and disperse them in the countries; [24] because they kept not mine ordinances, and rejected my commandments, and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes went after the imaginations of their fathers.
[25] So I gave them commandments that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live. [26] And I will defile them by their own decrees, when I pass through upon every one that opens the womb, that I may destroy them.
[27] Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord: Hitherto have your fathers provoke me in their trespasses in which they transgressed against me. [28] Whereas I brought them into the land concerning which I lifted up mine hand to give it them; and they looked upon every high hill, and every shady tree, and they sacrificed there to their gods, and offered there sweet-smelling savour, and there they poured out their drink-offerings. [29] And I said to them, What is Abama, that ye go in thither? and they called its mane Abama, until this day.
[30] Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Do ye pollute yourselves with the iniquities of your fathers, and do ye go a-whoring after their abominations, [31] and do ye pollute yourselves with the first-fruits of your gifts, in the offerings wherewith ye pollute yourselves in all your imaginations, until this day; and shall I answer you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord, I will not answer you, neither shall this thing come upon your spirit. [32] And it shall not be as ye say, We will be as the nations, and as the tribes of the earth, to worship stocks and stones.
[33] Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with a high arm, and with outpoured wrath: [34] I will bring you out from the nations, and will take you out of the lands wherein ye were dispersed, with a strong hand, and with a high arm, and with outpoured wrath. [35] And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and will plead with you there face to face.
[36] As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you, saith the Lord. [37] And I will cause you to pass under my rod, and I will bring you in by number. [38] And I will separate from among you the ungodly and the revolters; for I will lead them forth out of their place of sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord, even the Lord.
[39] And as to you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord
, even the Lord; Put away each one his evil practices, and hereafter if ye hearken to me, then shall ye no more profane my holy name by your gifts and by devices. [40] For upon my holy mountain, on the high mountain, saith the Lord, even the Lord, there shall all the house of Israel serve me for ever: and there will I accept you, and there will I have respect to your first-fruits, and the first-fruits of your offerings, in all your holy things.
[41] I will accept you with a sweet-smelling savour, when I bring you out from the nations, and take you out of the countries wherein ye have been dispersed; and I will be sanctified among you in the sight of the nations. [42] And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have brought you into the land of Israel, into the land concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. [43] And ye shall there remember your ways, and your devices wherewith ye defiled yourselves; and ye shall bewail yourselves for all your wickedness. [44] And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have done thus to you, that my name may not be profaned in your evil ways, and in your corrupt devices, saith the Lord.
[45] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [46] Son of man, set thy face against Thaeman, and look toward Darom, and prophesy against the chief forest of Nageb, [47] and thou shalt say to the forest of Nageb, Hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord, even the Lord; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour in thee every green tree, and every dry tree: the flame that is kindled shall not be quenched, and every face shall be scorched with it from the south to the north. [48] And all flesh shall know that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
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