Ezekiel 13-16

21st Century King James Version

13 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts: ‘Hear ye the word of the Lord!

³ Thus saith the Lord God: Woe unto the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

⁴ O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

⁵ Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.

⁶ They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, “The Lord saith,” but the Lord hath not sent them; and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

⁷ Have ye not seen a vain vision and have ye not spoken a lying divination, wherein ye say, “The Lord saith it,” albeit I have not spoken?

⁸ “‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because ye have spoken vanity and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.

⁹ And Mine hand shall be upon the prophets who see vanity and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰ “‘Because, even because they have seduced My people, saying, “Peace,” and there was no peace, and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar,

¹¹ say unto those who daub it with untempered mortar that it shall fall. There shall be an overflowing shower, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind shall rend it.

¹² Lo, when the wall has fallen, shall it not be said unto you, “Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?”

¹³ Therefore thus saith the Lord God: I will even rend it with a stormy wind in My fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in Mine anger and great hailstones in My fury to consume it.

¹⁴ So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be uncovered, and it shall fall and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁵ Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you: “The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it,

¹⁶ to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her and there is no peace, saith the Lord God.”’

¹⁷ “Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them

¹⁸ and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew pillows to all armholes and make kerchiefs upon the head of those of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of My people, and will ye save the souls alive who come unto you?

¹⁹ And will ye pollute Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls who should not die and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people who hear your lies?

²⁰ “‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly; and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go, even the souls whom ye hunt to make them fly.

²¹ Your kerchiefs also will I tear and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

²² Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way by promising him life,

²³ therefore ye shall see no more vanity nor divine divinations; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.’”

14 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me and sat before me.

² And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

³ “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them?

⁴ Therefore speak unto them and say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols,

⁵ that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols.’

⁶ “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷ For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, who separateth himself from Me and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself.

⁸ And I will set My face against that man and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹ And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.

¹⁰ And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. The punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him,

¹¹ that the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.’”

¹² The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

¹³ “Son of man, when the land sinneth against Me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out Mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it.

¹⁴ Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.

¹⁵ If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts,

¹⁶ though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters. They only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ so that I cut off man and beast from it,

¹⁸ though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast,

²⁰ though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹ “For thus saith the Lord God: How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem — the sword and the famine and the noisome beast and the pestilence — to cut off from it man and beast?

²² Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

²³ And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.”

15 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

³ Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? Or will men take a peg from it to hang any vessel thereon?

⁴ Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the middle of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?

⁵ Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work. How much less shall it be meet yet for any work when the fire hath devoured it and it is burned?

⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord God: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁷ And I will set My face against them: they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.

⁸ And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God.”

16 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations

³ and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity are of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite.

⁴ And as for thy nativity, on the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to soothe thee. Thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

⁵ No eye pitied thee to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person on the day that thou wast born.

⁶ “‘And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, “Live”; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, “Live.”

⁷ I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxed great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breasts are fashioned and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

⁸ “‘Now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swore unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine.

⁹ Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

¹⁰ I clothed thee also with embroidered work and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

¹¹ I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands and a chain on thy neck.

¹² And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

¹³ Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. Thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

¹⁴ And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.

¹⁵ “‘But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and played the harlot because of thy renown, and poured out thy fornications on every one that passed by: his it was.

¹⁶ And of thy garments thou didst take, and decked thy high places with divers colors and played the harlot thereupon. The like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

¹⁷ Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thyself images of men and didst commit whoredom with them,

¹⁸ and tookest thy embroidered garments and covered them; and thou hast set Mine oil and Mine incense before them.

¹⁹ My meat also which I gave thee — fine flour and oil and honey, wherewith I fed thee — thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, saith the Lord God.

²⁰ Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this thy whoredoms a small matter,

²¹ that thou hast slain My children and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

²² And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare and wast polluted in thy blood.

²³ “‘And it came to pass after all thy wickedness (Woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God),

²⁴ that thou hast also built unto thee a brothel house, and hast made thee a high place in every street.

²⁵ Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

²⁶ Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh, and hast increased thy whoredoms to provoke Me to anger.

²⁷ Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way.

²⁸ Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them and yet couldest not be satisfied.

²⁹ Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea, and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

³⁰ “‘How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman,

³¹ in that thou buildest thine eminent place at the head of every way and makest thine high place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot in that thou scornest hire,

³² but as a wife that committeth adultery, that taketh strangers instead of her husband!

³³ Gifts are given to all whores, but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

³⁴ And it is the contrary in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms; and in that thou givest a reward and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.

³⁵ “‘Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord!

³⁶ Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy filthiness was poured out and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children which thou didst give unto them,

³⁷ behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated. I will even gather them round about against thee and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

³⁸ And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

³⁹ And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place and shall break down thy high places. They shall strip thee also of thy clothes and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

⁴⁰ They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with their swords.

⁴¹ And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

⁴² So will I make My fury toward thee to rest, and My jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet and will be no more angry.

⁴³ Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast made Me fret in all these things, behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God; and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

⁴⁴ “‘Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, “As is the mother, so is her daughter.”

⁴⁵ Thou art thy mother’s daughter, who loatheth her husband and her children, and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶ And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, who dwell at thy left hand; and thy younger sister, who dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

⁴⁷ Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done according to their abominations, but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

⁴⁸ As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

⁴⁹ Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness 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 hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

⁵² Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou. Yea, be thou confounded also and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

⁵³ “‘When I shall bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring back the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them,

⁵⁴ that thou mayest bear thine own shame and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

⁵⁵ When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

⁵⁶ For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

⁵⁷ before thy wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria and all who are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise thee round about.

⁵⁸ Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord.

⁵⁹ “‘For thus saith the Lord God: I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

⁶¹ Then thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

⁶² And I will establish My covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,

⁶³ that thou mayest remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.’”