1Some of the elders of Israel came to see me. They sat down with me.2Then a message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,3‘Son of man, these men have thought about nothing but other gods. They have fallen into the evil trap of worshipping them. Should I let these men ask me for any advice?4Speak to them. Tell them, “The LORD and King says, ‘Suppose any of the Israelites think about other gods. And they fall into the evil trap of worshipping them. Then they go to a prophet to ask for advice. If they do, I myself will tell the prophet to answer them in keeping with their worship of many gods.5I will win back the hearts of the people of Israel. All of them have deserted me for their other gods.’ ”6‘So speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, “The LORD and King says, ‘Turn away from your sins! Also turn away from your gods. Give up all the evil things you have done. I hate them.7‘ “ ‘Suppose any of the Israelites or any outsiders who live in Israel separate themselves from me. And they think about other gods. They fall into the evil trap of worshipping them. Then they go to a prophet to ask me for advice. If they do, I myself will tell the prophet to answer them.8I will turn against them. I will make an example out of them. People will talk about the bad things that happen to them. I will remove them from you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.9‘ “ ‘Suppose that prophet is stirred up to give a prophecy. Then I am the one who has stirred him up. And I will reach out my powerful hand against him. I will destroy him from among my people Israel.10The prophet will be as much to blame as the one who asks him for advice. Both of them will be guilty.11Then the people of Israel will no longer wander away from me. And they will not make themselves “unclean” anymore with their many sins. They will be my people. And I will be their God,’ ” announces the LORD and King.’
Jerusalem can’t escape the Lord’s judgment
12A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,13‘Son of man, suppose the people in a certain country sin against me. And they are not faithful to me. So I reach out my powerful hand against them. I cut off their food supply. I make them very hungry. I kill them and their animals.14And suppose Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country. Then these three men could save only themselves by doing what is right,’ announces the LORD and King.15‘Or suppose I send wild animals through that country. And they kill all its children. It becomes a dry and empty desert. No one can pass through it because of the animals.16And suppose these three men were in that country. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. But the land would become a dry and empty desert. And that is just as sure as I am alive,’ announces the LORD and King.17‘Or suppose I send swords to kill the people in that country. And I say, “Let swords sweep all through the land.” And I kill its people and their animals.18And suppose these three men were in that country. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. And that is just as sure as I am alive,’ announces the LORD and King.19‘Or suppose I send a plague into that land. And I pour out my great anger on it by spilling blood. I kill its people and their animals.20And suppose Noah, Daniel and Job were in that land. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves by doing what is right. And that is just as sure as I am alive,’ announces the LORD and King.21The LORD and King says, ‘It will get much worse. I will punish Jerusalem in four horrible ways. There will be war, hunger, wild animals and plague. They will destroy the people and their animals.22But some people will be left alive. Some children will be brought out of the city. They will come to you. You will see how they act and the way they live. And you will be comforted in spite of all the trouble I brought on Jerusalem.23You will be comforted when you see how they act and the way they live. Then you will know that I did not do anything there without a reason,’ announces the LORD and King.
Ezekiel 14
English Standard Version
Idolatrous Elders Condemned
1Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. (Eze 8:1)2And the word of the Lord came to me:3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? (2Ki 3:13; Eze 2:1; Eze 7:19; Eze 20:3; Eze 20:31; Eze 36:37; Eze 44:12)4Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, (Eze 14:7)5that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. (Isa 1:4; 2Th 2:11)6“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. (Eze 18:30; Eze 18:32)7For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the Lord will answer him myself. (Eze 14:4; Eze 14:5)8And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord. (Le 17:10; De 28:37; Jer 44:11; Eze 5:15; Eze 6:7; Eze 15:7)9And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. (1Ki 22:23)10And they shall bear their punishment[1]—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike—11that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God.” (Eze 11:20; Eze 37:23)
Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared
12And the word of the Lord came to me:13“Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply[2] of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, (2Ch 36:14; Eze 2:1; Eze 4:16; Eze 14:17; Eze 14:19; Eze 14:21; Eze 15:8; Eze 17:20; Eze 18:24; Eze 20:27)14even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God. (Ge 6:9; Job 1:1; Jer 15:1; Eze 3:19; Eze 28:3; Da 9:23)15“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, (Eze 5:17; Eze 6:6; Eze 12:20)16even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. (Eze 5:11; Eze 6:14)17“Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, (Le 26:25; Jer 47:6; Eze 14:13; Eze 21:3; Eze 21:9)18though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered. (Eze 14:14)19“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, (2Sa 24:15; Eze 38:22)20even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.21“For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! (Eze 5:17; Eze 14:13; Eze 14:15; Eze 14:17; Eze 14:19; Eze 33:27; Re 6:8)22But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. (Eze 6:8; Eze 12:16; Eze 14:23; Eze 16:54; Eze 20:43)23They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”