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Ezekiel 16
Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations; 3 and say, In this manner says the Sovereign Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 And as for your nativity, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.
6 And when I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live. 7 I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you did increase and became great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare. 8 Now when I passed by you, and looked upon you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Yahweh, and you became mine. 9 Then I washed you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with tahash skin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. 11 And I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring upon your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. 13 In this manner were you decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were very beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put upon you, says the Sovereign Yahweh.
15 But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was. 16 And you took of your garments, and made for yourself high places decked with divers colors, and played the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 17 You also took your fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the harlot with them; 18 and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19 My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, says the Sovereign Yahweh. 20 Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whoredoms a small matter, 21 that you have killed my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whoredoms you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were weltering in your blood.
23 And it has come to pass after all your wickedness, (Woe, woe to you! says the Sovereign Yahweh,) 24 that you have built to yourself a vaulted place, and have made yourself a lofty place in every street. 25 You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied your whoredom. 26 You have also committed fornication with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your whoredom, to provoke me to anger. 27 Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of them that hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, that are ashamed of your lewd way. 28 you have played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the harlot with them, and yet you were not satisfied. 29 You have moreover multiplied your whoredom to the land of trade, to Chaldea; and yet you were not satisfied with this.
30 How weak is your heart, says the Sovereign Yahweh, seeing you do all these things, the work of an impudent harlot; 31 in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a harlot, in that you scorn hire. 32 A wife that commits adultery! That takes strangers instead of her husband! 33 They give gifts to all harlots; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your whoredoms. 34 And you are different from other women in your whoredoms, in that no one follows you to play the harlot; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of Yahweh: 36 In this manner says the Sovereign Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your whoredoms with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them; 37 therefore behold, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all them that you have loved, with all them that you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, and they may see all your nakedness.
38 And I will judge you, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your fair jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare. 40 They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords. 41 And they shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot, and you shall also give no hire any more. 42 So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way upon your head, says the Sovereign Yahweh: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.
44 Behold, every one that uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. 45 You are the daughter of your mother, that loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And your elder sister is Samaria, that dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, that dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 As I live, says the Sovereign Yahweh, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. 51 Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done. 52 You also, you bear your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous than you: also, yes be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.
53 And I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the middle of them; 54 that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them. 55 And your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate. 56 For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are all around her, the daughters of the Philistines, that do despite to you all around. 58 You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says Yahweh. 59 For thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. 61 Then shall you remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your older sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant. 62 And I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; 63 that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Sovereign Yahweh.
Ezekiel 17
And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; 3 and say, In this manner says the Sovereign Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: 4 he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traders; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree. 6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots of it were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. 8 It was Planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a good vine. 9 Say, In this manner says the Sovereign Yahweh: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up the roots of it, and cut off the fruit of it, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? And not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the roots of it. 10 Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.
11 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know you not what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king of it, and the princes of it, and brought them to him to Babylon: 13 and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land; 14 that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. 15 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 does such things? Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape? 16 As I live, says the Sovereign Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the middle of Babylon he shall die. 17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. 18 For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it upon his own head. 20 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 enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me. 21 And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
22 In this manner says the Sovereign Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain: 23 in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a good cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches of it shall they dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, 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, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.
Ezekiel 18
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying 2 What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? 3 As I live, says the Sovereign Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
5 But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right, 6 and has not eaten upon the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity, 7 and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 8 he that has not given forth upon interest, neither has taken any increase, that has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man, 9 has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, says the Sovereign Yahweh.
10 If he procreates a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that does any one of these things, 11 and that does not any of those duties, but even has eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor’s wife, 12 has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination, 13 has given forth upon interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
14 Now, lo, if he procreates a son, that sees all his father’s sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like; 15 that has not eaten upon the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor’s wife, 16 neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 17 that has withdrawn his hand from off the poor, that has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. 18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.
19 Yet you say, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul that sins, 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.
21 But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Sovereign Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live? 24 But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet you say, The way of Yahweh is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal? 26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies in it; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet says the house of Israel, The way of Yahweh is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? Are not your ways unequal? 30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Sovereign Yahweh. Return and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Sovereign Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.
