Ezekiel 13-16

Contemporary English Version

Lying Prophets

13 The Lord said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the prophets of Israel who say they speak in my name, but who preach messages that come from their own imagination. Tell them it's time to hear my message.

³ I, the Lord God, say those lying prophets are doomed! They don't see visions—they make up their own messages! ⁴ Israel's prophets are no better than jackals^[a] that hunt for food among the ruins of a city. ⁵ They don't warn the people about coming trouble or tell them how dangerous it is to sin against me. ⁶ Those prophets lie by claiming they speak for me, but I have not even chosen them to be my prophets. And they still think their words will come true. ⁷ They say they're preaching my messages, but they are full of lies—I did not speak to them!

⁸ So I am going to punish those lying prophets for deceiving the people of Israel with false messages. ⁹ I will turn against them and no longer let them belong to my people. They will not be allowed to call themselves Israelites or even to set foot in Israel. Then they will realize that I am the Lord God.

^10 (A) Those prophets refuse to be honest. They tell my people there will be peace, even though there's no peace to be found. They are like workers who think they can fix a shaky wall by covering it with paint. ¹¹ But when I send rainstorms, hailstones, and strong winds, the wall will surely collapse. ¹² People will then ask the workers why the paint didn't hold it up.

¹³ That wall is the city of Jerusalem. And I, the Lord God, am so angry that I will send strong winds, rainstorms, and hailstones to destroy it. ¹⁴ The lying prophets have tried to cover up the evil in Jerusalem, but I will tear down the city, all the way to its foundations. And when it collapses, those prophets will be killed, and everyone will know that I have done these things.

¹⁵ The city of Jerusalem and its lying prophets will feel my fierce anger. Then I will announce that the city has fallen and that the lying prophets are dead, ¹⁶ because they promised my people peace, when there was no peace. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Women Who Wear Magic Charms

The Lord said:

¹⁷ Ezekiel, son of man, now condemn the women of Israel who preach messages that come from their own imagination. ¹⁸ Tell them they're doomed! They wear magic charms on their wrists and scarves on their heads, then trick others into believing they can predict the future.^[b] They won't get away with telling those lies. ¹⁹ They charge my people a few handfuls of barley and a couple pieces of bread, and then give messages that are insulting to me. They use lies to sentence the innocent to death and to help the guilty go free. And my people believe them!

²⁰ I hate the magic charms they use to trick people into believing their lies. I will rip those charms from their wrists and set free the people they have trapped like birds.^{[c] 21} I will tear the scarves from their heads and rescue my people from their power once and for all. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

²² They do things I would never do. They lie to good people and encourage them to do wrong, and they convince the wicked to ruin their own lives by not turning from sin. ²³ I will no longer let these women give false messages and use magic, and I will free my people from their control. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have done these things.

Ezekiel Encourages the People To Turn Back to the Lord

14 One day, some of Israel's leaders came to me and asked for a message from the Lord. ² While they were there, the Lord said:

³ Ezekiel, son of man, these men have started worshiping idols, though they know it will cause them to sin even more. So I refuse to give them a message!

⁴ Tell the people of Israel that if they sin by worshiping idols and then go to a prophet to find out what I say, I will give them the answer their sins deserve. ⁵ When they hear my message, maybe they will see that they need to turn back to me and stop worshiping those idols.

⁶ Now, Ezekiel, tell everyone in Israel:

I am the Lord God. Stop worshiping those idols I hate so much and come back to me.

⁷ Suppose one of you Israelites or a foreigner living in Israel rejects me and starts worshiping idols. If you then go to a prophet to find out what I say, I will answer ⁸ by turning against you. I will make you a warning to anyone who might think of doing the same thing, and you will no longer belong to my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that you have sinned against me.

⁹ If a prophet gives a false message, I am the one who caused that prophet to lie. But I will still reject him and cut him off from my people, ¹⁰ and anyone who goes to that prophet for a message will be punished in the same way. ¹¹ I will do this, so that you will come back to me and stop destroying yourselves with these disgusting sins. So turn back to me! Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. I, the Lord God, make this promise.

Judgment on a Sinful Nation

¹² The Lord God said:

¹³ Ezekiel, son of man, suppose an entire nation sins against me, and I punish it by destroying the crops and letting its people and livestock starve to death. ^14 (B) Even if Noah, Daniel,^[d] and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves.

¹⁵ Or suppose I punish a nation by sending wild animals to eat people and scare away every passerby, so that the land becomes a barren desert. ¹⁶ As surely as I live, I promise that even if these three men lived in that nation, their own children would not be spared. The three men would live, but the land would be an empty desert.

¹⁷ Or suppose I send an enemy to attack a sinful nation and kill its people and livestock. ¹⁸ If these three men were in that nation when I punished it, not even their children would be spared. Only the three men would live.

¹⁹ And suppose I am so angry that I send a deadly disease to wipe out the people and livestock of a sinful nation. ²⁰ Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the Lord, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared.

^21 (C) I am the Lord God, and I promise to punish Jerusalem severely. I will send war, starvation, wild animals, and deadly disease to slaughter its people and livestock. ²² And those who survive will be taken from their country and led here to Babylonia. Ezekiel, when you see how sinful they are, you will know why I did all these things to Jerusalem. ²³ You will be convinced that I, the Lord God, was right in doing what I did.

Jerusalem Is a Useless Vine

15 Some time later, the Lord said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, what happens to the wood of a grapevine after the grapes have been picked? It isn't like other trees in the forest, ³ because the wood of a grapevine can't be used to make anything, not even a small peg to hang things on. ⁴ It can only be used as firewood. But after its ends are burnt and its middle is charred, it can't be used for anything. ⁵ The wood is useless before it is burned, and afterwards, it is completely worthless.

⁶ I, the Lord God, promise that just as the wood of a grapevine is burned as firewood, ⁷ I will punish the people of Jerusalem with fire. Some of them have escaped one destruction, but soon they will be completely burned. And when that happens, you, Ezekiel, will know that I am the Lord. ⁸ I will make their country an empty wasteland, because they have not been loyal to me. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Jerusalem Is Unfaithful

16 The Lord said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, remind the people of Jerusalem of their disgusting sins ³ and tell them that I, the Lord God, am saying:

Jerusalem, you were born in the country where Canaanites lived. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.^{[e] 4} When you were born, no one cut you loose from your mother or washed your body. No one rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil,^[f] and wrapped you in warm blankets. ⁵ Not one person loved you enough to do any of these things, and no one even felt sorry for you. You were despised, thrown into a field, and forgotten.

⁶ I saw you lying there, rolling around in your own blood, and I couldn't let you die. ⁷ I took care of you, like someone caring for a tender, young plant. You grew up to be a beautiful young woman with mature breasts and hair, but you were still naked.

⁸ When I saw you again, you were old enough to have sex. So I covered your naked body with my own robe.^[g] Then I solemnly promised that you would belong to me and that I, the Lord God, would take care of you.

⁹ I washed the blood off you and rubbed your skin with olive oil. ¹⁰ I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes,^[h] as well as sandals made from the best leather. ¹¹ I gave you bracelets, a necklace, ¹² a ring for your nose, some earrings, and a beautiful crown. ¹³ Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen, ¹⁴ and everyone on earth knew it. I, the Lord God, had helped you become a lovely young woman.

¹⁵ You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby.^{[i] 16} You made shrines for yourself and decorated them with some of your clothes. That's where you took your visitors to have sex with them. These things should never have happened!^{[j] 17} You made idols out of the gold and silver jewelry I gave you, then you sinned by worshiping those idols. ¹⁸ You dressed them in the clothes you got from me, and you offered them the olive oil and incense I gave you. ¹⁹ I supplied you with fine flour, olive oil, and honey, but you sacrificed it all as offerings to please those idols. I, the Lord God, watched this happen.

²⁰ But you did something even worse than that—you sacrificed your own children to those idols! ²¹ You slaughtered my children, so you could offer them as sacrifices. ²² You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young and were rolling around naked in your own blood.

²³ Now I, the Lord God, say you are doomed! Not only did you do these evil things, ²⁴ but you also built places on every street corner ²⁵ where you disgraced yourself by having sex with anyone who walked by. And you did that more and more every day! ²⁶ To make me angry, you even offered yourself to Egyptians, who were always ready to sleep with you.

²⁷ So I punished you by letting those greedy Philistine enemies take over some of your territory. But even they were offended by your repulsive behavior.

²⁸ You couldn't get enough sex, so you chased after Assyrians and slept with them. You still weren't satisfied, ²⁹ so you went after Babylonians. But those merchants could not satisfy you either.

³⁰ I, the Lord God, say that you were so disgusting that you would have done anything to get what you wanted.^{[k] 31} You had sex on every street corner, and when you finished, you refused to accept money. That's worse than being a prostitute! ³² You are nothing but an unfaithful wife who would rather have sex with strangers than with your own husband. ³³ Prostitutes accept money for having sex, but you bribe men from everywhere to have sex with you. ³⁴ You're not like other prostitutes. Men don't ask you for sex—you offer to pay them!

Jerusalem Must Be Punished

The Lord said:

³⁵ Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to me. ³⁶ You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them. ³⁷ So I, the Lord God, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness. ³⁸ I will find you guilty of being an unfaithful wife and a murderer, and in my fierce anger I will sentence you to a violent death! ³⁹ Then I will hand you over to your lovers, who will tear down the places where you had sex. They will take your clothes and jewelry, leaving you naked and empty-handed.

⁴⁰ Your lovers and an angry mob will stone you to death; they will cut your dead body into pieces ⁴¹ and burn down your houses. Other women will watch these terrible things happen to you. I promise to stop you from being a prostitute and paying your lovers for sex.

⁴² Only then will I calm down and stop being angry and jealous. ⁴³ You made me furious by doing all these disgusting things and by forgetting how I took care of you when you were young. Then you made things worse by acting like a prostitute. You must be punished! I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Jerusalem's Two Sisters

The Lord said:

⁴⁴ People will use this saying about you, Jerusalem: “If the mother is bad, so is her daughter.” ⁴⁵ You are just like your mother, who hated her husband and her own children. You are also like your sisters, who hated their husbands and children. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.^{[l] 46} Your older sister was Samaria, that city to your north with her nearby villages. Your younger sister was Sodom, that city to your south with her nearby villages. ⁴⁷ You followed their way of life and their wicked customs, and soon you were more repulsive than they were.

⁴⁸ As surely as I am the living Lord God, the people of Sodom and its nearby villages were never as sinful as you. ⁴⁹ They were arrogant and spoiled; they had everything they needed and still refused to help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They thought they were better than everyone else, and they did things I hate. And so I destroyed them.

⁵¹ You people of Jerusalem have sinned twice as much as the people of Samaria. In fact, your evil ways have made both Sodom and Samaria look innocent. ⁵² So their punishment will seem light compared to yours. You will be disgraced and put to shame because of your disgusting sins.

Jerusalem Will Be Ashamed

The Lord said to Jerusalem:

⁵³ Someday I will bless Sodom and Samaria and their nearby villages. I will also bless you, Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ Then you will be ashamed of how you've acted, and Sodom and Samaria will be relieved that they weren't as sinful as you. ⁵⁵ When that day comes, you and Sodom and Samaria will once again be well-off, and all nearby villages will be restored.

⁵⁶ Jerusalem, you were so arrogant that you sneered at Sodom. ⁵⁷ But now everyone has learned how wicked you really are. The countries of Syria and Philistia, as well as your other neighbors, hate you and make insulting remarks. ⁵⁸ You must pay for all the vulgar and disgusting things you have done. I, the Lord, have spoken.

The Lord Makes a Promise to Jerusalem

The Lord said:

⁵⁹ Jerusalem, you deserve to be punished, because you broke your promises and ignored our agreement. ⁶⁰ But I remember the agreement I made with you when you were young,^[m] and so I will make you a promise that will last forever. ⁶¹ When you think about how you acted, you will be ashamed, especially when I return your sisters^[n] to you as daughters, even though this was not part of our agreement.^{[o] 62} I will keep this solemn promise, and you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶³ I will forgive you, but you will think about your sins and be too ashamed to say a word. I, the Lord God, have spoken.