The Israelites must stop worshipping_idols
1Some of the leaders_of_Israel came to me and they sat down in front of me. 2The Lord talked to me and He said: 3‘Son of man, these men love their idols. Their sin is like a stone over which they fall. I don't want them to ask Me anything at all. 4That is why you must talk to them. You must tell them: “The Lord God says: If any person in Israel loves his idols, he must know that his sins are like a stone over which he will fall to make him sin. And if he then comes to a prophet to ask him something, then I, the Lord, will answer him Myself, even if he has a lot of idols and serves them. 5I will do it so that all the Israelites will become afraid when they hear what I tell them. Everyone who has gone away from Me to serve their idols will be afraid.”
6That is why you must tell the Israelites: “The Lord God says: Come back to Me. Leave your idols, and throw away all the bad things that I hate. 7Because I, the Lord, will answer all the Israelites. I will also answer the strangers who live in the land_of_Israel. I will answer them when they turn away from Me and start to love their idols. Their sins are like a stone over which they fall, but when someone like that comes to the prophet to ask him what I want, it is wrong. 8I will be an enemy to anyone who does that. People will look at him and say he has done wrong. He will be a warning to other people. I will cut him off from my people. You will know that I am the Lord.
9And if a prophet tells lies and says things that are not_true, it is because I have deceived him to say those things that he wants to say. But I will put out my hand against him and punish him. I will cut him off from my people of Israel. 10The false_prophets will get what they deserve. I will punish them for their sins together with the people who have idols but ask the prophets what to do. 11Then the Israelites will not turn away from Me and they will not make themselves impure again with all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God.” ’ This is what the Lord God said.
12The Lord talked to me and He said: 13‘Son of man, if people in a land sin_against Me and they are unfaithful, I will let them have no food and let them go hungry. I will cause the people and animals in the land to die. 14If 3 good men like Noah, Daniel and Job were to live in the land now, only they would be saved because they did what is right, but no one else would stay alive.’ This is what the Lord God said.
The Lord will send war and famine to Israel
15The Lord said: ‘I will send wild animals into the land and they will destroy the land so that no person will be able to live there. No one will be able to walk through the land because the wild animals will kill them. 16If those 3 good men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in the land now, they would not have been able to save their sons or daughters. They would have been able to save only themselves, and the land would have become empty.’ This is what the Lord God said.
17The Lord also said: ‘If I don't bring wild animals into the land, I will bring war and let the war destroy the whole land and kill all the people and animals. 18And if those 3 good men were living in the land now, they would not have been able to save their sons or daughters. Only they would have stayed alive. This is sure, as sure as I live.’ This is what the Lord God said.
19‘And if I don't bring wild animals or war, then I will bring disease into the land and I will punish the land badly so that everyone will die. I will cause all the people and animals in the land to die. 20If Noah, Daniel and Job, were living in the land now, then they would not have been able to save one son or daughter. They would have been able to save only themselves because they did what is right. This is sure, as sure as I live.’ This is what the Lord God said.
21Yes, the Lord God says: ‘All of this will happen when I punish Jerusalem. I will punish Jerusalem in these 4 bad ways, that is: war, famine, wild animals and disease. I will cause the people and animals to die. 22But some of the people in the city will stay alive. They will come here to you in Babylon with their sons and daughters. And when you see how they have lived and what bad things they have done, you will understand why I punished the city and you will know why I made all those bad things happen to them. 23When you see how sinfully they have lived and what they have done, you will understand why I did everything to make Jerusalem suffer.’ This is what the Lord God said.
