23:35. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Because thou hast forgotten me, and hast cast me off behind thy back, bear thou also thy wickedness, and thy fornications.
23:36. And the Lord spoke to me, saying: Son of man, dost thou judge Oolla, and Ooliba, and dost thou declare to them their wicked deeds?
23:37. Because they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and they have committed fornication with their idols: moreover also their children, whom they bore to me, they have offered to them to be devoured.
23:38. Yea, and they have done this to me. They polluted my sanctuary on the same day, and profaned my sabbaths.
23:39. And when they sacrificed their children to their idols, and went into my sanctuary the same day to profane it: they did these things even in the midst of my house.
23:40. They sent for men coming from afar, to whom they had sent a messenger: and behold they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, and didst paint thy eyes, and wast adorned with women"s ornaments.
23:41. Thou sattest on a very fine bed, and a table was decked before thee: whereupon thou didst set my incense, and my ointment.
23:42. And there was in her the voice of a mult.i.tude rejoicing: and to some that were brought of the mult.i.tude of men, and that came from the desert, they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads.
23:43. And I said to her that was worn out in her adulteries: Now will this woman still continue in her fornication.
23:44. And they went in to her, as to a harlot: so went they in unto Oolla, and Ooliba, wicked women.
23:45. They therefore are just men: these shall judge them as adulteresses are judged, and as shedders of blood are judged: because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
23:46. For thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Bring a mult.i.tude upon them, and deliver them over to tumult and rapine:
23:47. And let the people stone them with stone, and let them be stabbed with their swords: they shall kill their sons and daughters, and their houses they shall burn with fire.
23:48. And I will take away wickedness out of the land: and all women shall learn, not to do according to the wickedness of them.
23:49. And they shall render your wickedness upon you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols: and you shall know that I am the Lord G.o.d.
Ezechiel Chapter 24
Under the parable of a boiling pot is shewn the utter destruction of Jerusalem: for which the Jews at Babylon shall not dare to mourn.
24:1. And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, saying:
24:2. Son of man, write thee the name of this day, on which the king of Babylon hath set himself against Jerusalem to day.
24:3. And thou shalt speak by a figure a parable to the provoking house, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Set on a pot, set it on, I say, and put water in it.
24:4. Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.
24:5. Take the fattest of the flock, and lay together piles of bones under it: the seething thereof is boiling hot, and the bones thereof are thoroughly sodden in the midst of it.
24:6. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Woe to the b.l.o.o.d.y city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and its rust is not gone out of it: cast it out piece by piece, there hath no lot fallen upon it.
24:7. For her blood is in the midst of her, she hath shed it upon the smooth rock: she hath not shed it upon the ground, that it might be covered with dust.
24:8. And that I might bring my indignation upon her, and take my vengeance: I have shed her blood upon the smooth rock, that it should not be covered.
24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Woe to the b.l.o.o.d.y city, of which I will make a great bonfire.
24:10. Heap together the bones, which I will burn with fire: the flesh shall be consumed, and the whole composition shall be sodden, and the bones shall be consumed.
24:11. Then set it empty upon burning coals, that it may be hot, and the bra.s.s thereof may be melted: and let the filth of it be melted in the midst thereof, and let the rust of it be consumed.
24:12. Great pains have been taken, and the great rust thereof is not gone out, not even by fire.
24:13. Thy uncleanness is execrable: because I desired to cleanse thee, and thou art not cleansed from thy filthiness: neither shalt thou be cleansed, before I cause my indignation to rest in thee.
24:14. I the Lord have spoken: it shall come to pa.s.s, and I will do it: I will not pa.s.s by, nor spare, nor be pacified: I will judge thee according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, saith the Lord.
24:15. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24:16. Son of man, behold I take from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke, and thou shall not lament, nor weep; neither shall thy tears run down.
24:17. Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead: let the tire of thy head be upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and cover not thy face, nor eat the meat of mourners.
24:18. So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening: and I did in the morning as he had commanded me.
24:19. And the people said to me: Why dost thou not tell us what these things mean that thou doest?
24:20. And I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24:21. Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Behold I will profane my sanctuary, the glory of your realm, and the thing that your eyes desire, and for which your soul feareth: your sons, and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword.
24:22. And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces, nor shall you eat the meat of mourners.
24:23. You shall have crowns on your heads, and shoes on your feet: you shall not lament nor weep, but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and every one shall sigh with his brother.
24:24. And Ezechiel shall be unto you for a sign of things to come: according to all that he hath done, so shall you do, when this shall come to pa.s.s: and you shall know that I am the Lord G.o.d.
24:25. And thou, O son of man, behold in the day wherein I will take away from them their strength, and the joy of their glory, and the desire of their eyes, upon which their souls rest, their sons and their daughters.
24:26. In that day when he that escapeth shall come to thee, to tell thee:
24:27. In that day, I say, shall thy mouth be opened to him that hath escaped, and thou shalt speak, and shalt be silent no more: and thou shalt be unto them for a sign of things to come, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezechiel Chapter 25
A prophecy against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, for their malice against the Israelites.
25:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
25:2. Son of man, set thy face against the children of Ammon, and thou shalt prophesy of them.
25:3. And thou shalt say to the children of Ammon: Hear ye the word of the Lord G.o.d: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Because thou hast said: Ha, ha, upon my sanctuary, because it was profaned: and upon the land of Israel, because it was laid waste: and upon the house of Juda, because they are led into captivity:
25:4. Therefore will I deliver thee to the men of the east for an inheritance, and they shall place their sheepcotes in thee, and shall set up their tents in thee: they shall eat thy fruits: and they shall drink thy milk.