Evil in High Places

¹Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people.

²And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.

³They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot,and we are the meat.’

⁴Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man!”

⁵And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: “That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds.

⁶You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.

⁸You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD.

⁹I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.

¹⁰You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹¹The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel.

¹²Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

A Promise of Restoration

¹³Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

¹⁴Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁵“Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

¹⁶Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’

¹⁷Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’

¹⁸When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations.

¹⁹And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,

²⁰so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

²¹But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

God’s Glory Leaves Jerusalem

²²Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

²³And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.

²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea,to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,

²⁵I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

¹Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations

³and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

⁴On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

⁵No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.

⁶Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’

⁷I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

⁸Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.

⁹Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil.

¹⁰I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

¹¹I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.

¹²I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

¹³So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.

¹⁴Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

¹⁶You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!

¹⁷You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.

¹⁸You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.

¹⁹And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

²⁰You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

²¹You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

²²And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

²³Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness,

²⁴you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.

²⁵At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.

²⁶You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

²⁷Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct.

²⁸Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied.

²⁹So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea,the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!

³⁰How weak-willed is your heart,declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute!

³¹But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

³²You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband!

³³Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

³⁴So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!

Judgment on Jerusalem

³⁵Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

³⁶This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,

³⁷therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked.

³⁸And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

³⁹Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

⁴⁰They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

⁴¹Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women.I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers.

⁴²So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.

⁴³Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?

⁴⁴Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you:‘Like mother, like daughter.’

⁴⁵You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.

⁴⁷And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.

⁴⁸As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done.

⁴⁹Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

⁵⁰Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

⁵¹Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵²So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity,as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them.

⁵⁴So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.

⁵⁵And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state.

⁵⁶Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride,

⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edomand all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.

⁵⁸You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

The Covenant Remembered

⁵⁹For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

⁶⁰But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

⁶¹Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

⁶²So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD,

⁶³so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”

Reproof of False Prophets

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD!

³This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing.

⁴Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins.

⁵You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.

⁶They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

⁷Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?

⁸Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.

⁹My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

¹⁰Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,

¹¹tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth.

¹²Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury.

¹⁴I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹⁵And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it—

¹⁶those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.’

Reproof of False Prophetesses

¹⁷Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them

¹⁸and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own?

¹⁹You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

²⁰Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds.

²¹I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

²²Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,

²³therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

My Heart Is Stirred by a Noble Theme

¹My heart is stirred by a noble themeas I recite my verses to the king;my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

²You are the most handsome of men;grace has anointed your lips;therefore God has blessed you forever.

³Strap your sword at your side, O mighty warrior;appear in your majesty and splendor.

⁴In your splendor ride forth in victoryon behalf of truth and humility and justice;may your right hand show your awesome deeds.

⁵Your arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s foes;the nations fall beneath your feet.

⁶Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever,and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁷You have loved righteousnessand hated wickedness;therefore God, your God, has anointed youabove your companions with the oil of joy.

⁸All your garments are fragrantwith myrrh and aloes and cassia;from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.

⁹The daughters of kings are among your honored women;the queen stands at your right hand,adorned with the gold of Ophir.

¹⁰Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear:Forget your people and your father’s house,

¹¹and the king will desire your beauty;bow to him, for he is your lord.

¹²The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;men of wealth will seek your favor.

¹³All glorious is the princess in her chamber;her gown is embroidered with gold.

¹⁴In colorful garments she is led to the king;her virgin companions are brought before you.

¹⁵They are led in with joy and gladness;they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶Your sons will succeed your fathers;you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷I will commemorate your name through all generations;therefore the nations will praise you forever and ever.