¹Then it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to consult the Lord, and they sat before me. ²And the word of the Lord came to me and said, ³“Son of Adam, speak with the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what my Lord the Lord says: «Have you come to consult me? As I live, I will certainly not be consulted by you, says the Lord, the Lord.» ’ ⁴Will you judge them, will you be the judge, son of Adam? Have them know the abominations of their fathers, ⁵and say to them, ‘This is what my Lord the Lord says: «On the day when I chose Israel, I both raised my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. And I raised my hand to them and said, ‹I am the Lord your God.› ⁶On that day I raised my hand to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I have destined for them, flowing with milk and honey. It is a beacon of splendour to all the various countries. ⁷And I said to them, ‹Let each man cast away his abominable-looking things, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.› ⁸But they rebelled against me and were not willing to heed me. They did not each cast away their abominable-looking things, and they did not abandon the idols of Egypt. And I said I would pour my wrath out over them, to expend my anger on them, within the land of Egypt. ⁹But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations which are among them, in whose sight I have been made known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰So I brought them out of the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, ¹¹and I gave them my statutes, and I made my judicial principles known to them, which a man shall observe and live by. ¹²And I also gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, for them to know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. ¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They did not walk in my statutes, and they rejected my judicial principles, which a man shall observe and live by, and they profaned my Sabbaths a lot. So I said I would pour my fury out over them in the desert, to make an end of them. ¹⁴And I acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I brought them out. ¹⁵And I also raised my hand to them in the desert that I would not bring them to the land which I have given them – flowing with milk and honey, a beacon of splendour to all the various countries – ¹⁶because they rejected my judicial principles and did not walk in my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart would go after their idols, ¹⁷but my eye spared them from me destroying them, and I did not make an end of them in the desert. ¹⁸And I said to their sons in the desert, ‹Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, and do not keep their judicial principles, and do not defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹I am the Lord your God. Walk in my statutes, and keep my judicial principles, and observe them. ²⁰And sanctify my Sabbaths, so that they are a sign between me and you, for you to know that I am the Lord your God.› ²¹But the sons rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes, and they did not keep my judicial principles, observing them, which a man shall observe and live by. They profaned my Sabbaths, and I said I would pour my fury out over them, to expend my anger on them in the desert. ²²But I withdrew my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name, so as not to be profaned in the eyes of the Gentiles in whose sight I brought them out. ²³I also raised my hand to them in the desert that I would scatter them among the Gentiles, and to disperse them in the various countries, ²⁴because they did not observe my judicial principles, and they rejected my statutes, and they profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after the idols of their fathers. ²⁵And I also gave them statutes for what is not good, and judicial principles by which they should not live. ²⁶So I defiled them by their own gifts when they caused all who open the womb to pass through fire, so that I should lay them waste, so that they might know that I am the Lord.» ’ ²⁷Therefore, son of Adam, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what my Lord the Lord says: «Your fathers snubbed me even in this way: when they displayed perverseness against me. ²⁸When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised my hand to give it to them, they saw every high hill and every dense tree, and they offered their sacrifices there, and there they aroused anger because of their oblations, and they produced their sweet fragrances there, and they poured their libations out there. ²⁹And I said to them, ‹What is that idolatrous raised site over there which you are going to?› And it is called Bamah up to this day.» ’ ³⁰So say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what my Lord the Lord says: «Are you making yourselves unclean in the way of your fathers, and are you engaging in prostitution, copying their abominations? ³¹For when you raise your offerings, when you make your sons pass through fire, you defile yourselves with all your idolatrous practices, as you have been doing up to this day. So shall I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord, the Lord, I will certainly not be consulted by you. ³²And as for what springs to your mind, it certainly will not come to pass, when you say, ‹We will be like the Gentiles, like the families of the various countries, serving wood and stone.› ³³As I live, says the Lord, the Lord, I will certainly reign over you with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. ³⁴And I will bring you out of the various peoples, and I will gather you from the various countries in which you have been scattered, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out. ³⁵And I will bring you to the place of discourse of the various peoples, and I will contend with you there face to face. ³⁶As I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will contend with you, says the Lord, the Lord. ³⁷And I will make sure you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the terms of the covenant. ³⁸And I will purge from you those who are rebellious and those who transgress against me. I will remove them from the land of their residence, and they shall not come into the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord.» ³⁹And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what my Lord the Lord says: «Let each man go and serve his idols, and afterwards if you will not heed me. But do not profane my holy name any more with your gifts and with your idols. ⁴⁰For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord, the Lord, there the whole house of Israel will serve me, all of it in the land. There I will delight in them, and there I will require your heave-offerings and your prime gifts, in all your holy dealings. ⁴¹With a fragrant scent I will delight in you, when I bring you out of the various peoples, and I gather you from the countries in which you have been scattered. And I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the Gentiles. ⁴²And you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the ground of Israel, to the land for which I raised my hand to give it to your fathers. ⁴³And there you will remember your ways and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves in facing up to yourselves for all your wicked things which you have done. ⁴⁴And you will know that I am the Lord when I take action with you for my name's sake, not according to your bad ways or according to your corrupted deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord, the Lord.» ’ ” ⁴⁵And the word of the Lord came to me and said, ⁴⁶“Son of Adam, face towards the south, and prophesy to the south, and prophesy to the forest of the field in the south. ⁴⁷And say to the forest in the south, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. This is what my Lord the Lord says: «I am about to light a fire against you, and it will consume every moist tree and every dry tree in your precincts. The blazing flame will not be extinguished, and all faces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸All flesh will see that I, the Lord, burnt it. It will not be extinguished.» ’ ” ⁴⁹Then I said, “Alas, my Lord the Lord, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not speaking proverbially?’ ”