The Lord will be the King of Israel
1It was the 7th year after we had become prisoners in Babylon, on the 10th day of the 5th month. Some of the leaders_of_Israel came to ask the Lord what would happen and they sat before me. 2The Lord talked to me and He said: 3‘Son of man, you must talk to the leaders_of_Israel. You must tell them: “The Lord God says: Did you come to ask Me what will happen? I will not answer you, this is sure, as sure as I live.” ’ This is what the Lord God said.
4He said: ‘Son of man, you must judge them. You must tell them about the things that their forefathers did, things that I hate. 5You must tell them: “The Lord God says: The day that I chose the Israelites and I promised the descendants of Jacob that I would help them, I showed them who I am, in the land of Egypt. I told them that it is sure that I am the Lord their God. 6On that day I promised them that I would take them out of Egypt and bring them to a land that I chose to give them, a land with a lot of food, milk and honey, the best of all lands.
7And I said to them: You must throw away those idols that I hate. I know you love them. Don't make yourselves impure with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
8But they turned away from Me, and they did not want to listen to Me. Not one of them wanted to throw away their dirty and hateful idols which they loved. They did not stop worshipping the idols of Egypt. I wanted to punish them there in Egypt and keep on punishing them until I was not angry anymore. 9But I did not do it. The Israelites lived among other nations and those people had heard that I had promised to save the Israelites and bring them out of Egypt. I am the Lord. I did not want those nations to think that I could not do what I had promised. 10Then I led the Israelites out of Egypt and took them into the desert. 11I gave them my laws that told them what they should do. I taught them that they would live if they did what I said. 12I also gave them my Sabbath days as a sign between Me and them so that they would know that I am the Lord, and that I had chosen them to be my holy people.
13But the Israelites rebelled_against Me in the desert. They did not live as I wanted. They did not listen to what I had told them and what I had decided. They did not think it was important to listen to Me and to live. They did not obey the law of the Sabbath day. It was not holy to them, and they made it impure. Then I thought that I would punish them and destroy them all in the desert. 14But I did not do it. I am the Lord. The other nations had seen that I had saved the Israelites from Egypt and I did not want those people to think that I could not do what I had promised. 15And in the desert I told them that I would not take them into the land that I wanted to give them, a land with a lot of food, milk and honey, the best of all lands. 16I said that because they did not want to listen to my laws or do the things that I told them, they did not respect my Sabbath day and they made it impure, and they served their idols.
17But I felt sorry for them and I did not kill them. I did not destroy them in the desert. 18In the desert I told their children: “‘You must not live like your forefathers did, you must not do what they decided to do and you must not make yourselves impure with their idols. 19I am the Lord your God. You must live like I want and do the things that I say. 20You must respect my holy Sabbath day, because it is a sign between Me and you so that you will know that I am the Lord your God.”’
21But their children rebelled_against Me. They did not live as I told them, they did not respect the things that I said and decided, and they did not think it was important to listen to Me and to live. They did not respect the Sabbath day and kept on making it impure. Then I decided to punish them in the desert until I was not angry anymore.
22But I did not do it. I am the Lord. The other nations had seen that I had saved the Israelites from Egypt and I did not want those people to think that I could not do what I had promised. 23In the desert I told them that I would chase them away to go and live among other nations and to stay in other lands. 24I said that because they did not do what my laws say. They did not listen to my words and my rules and did not respect the Sabbath day. They made it impure and they worshipped the idols of their forefathers. 25I did not stop them when they decided to do things that were bad, and when they started to obey their own rules that bring death. 26I made them become impure from the offerings they had to bring to their idols. They even had to sacrifice their oldest sons. I wanted them to fear so that they would know that I am the Lord.”
27Son of man, that is why you must talk to the Israelites and tell them: “The Lord God says: Your forefathers said very bad things against Me and made Me angry when they did not want to believe Me. 28I brought them to the land that I had promised them. But when they saw the high hills and green trees, they sacrificed offerings and gave gifts to the idols to humiliate Me. They also burnt incense and poured out drink-offerings to the idols. 29Then I asked them: “‘Why do you go to these places_of_sacrifice?”’
And until today the name of these places is: Places_of_sacrifice.” 30That is why you must tell the Israelites: “The Lord God, asks: “‘Why do you live like your forefathers? Why do you make yourselves impure? Why do you serve their dirty idols that I hate and why have you become unfaithful to Me? 31You have given gifts to idols, you have burnt your children, and you have made yourselves impure with your idols even until today.”’
People of Israel, do you want Me to answer you if you ask Me what will happen? I will not answer you, this is sure, as sure as I live.” ’ This is what the Lord God said.
32‘You plan to sacrifice offerings to idols made of wood and stone like the other nations do. You want to do the same as the people in other lands do, but that will not happen.’
33The Lord God says: ‘I will be your King, this is sure, as sure as I live. I will rule over you and I will punish you and make you suffer. 34I was angry with you and I made you suffer. I punished you and made you flee to other lands. But I will call you to come back from those lands. I will bring you back from those people. 35I will take you into the desert and there I will judge you. 36I judged your forefathers in the desert between Egypt and Israel and I will also judge you. 37I will count you like sheep and I will make you obey my covenant. 38I will take away everyone who is rebellious_against Me and who does not want to listen. Yes, I will take them away from the lands where they live, but they will not go into the land_of_Israel. You will know that I am the Lord.’
39The Lord God says: ‘And you, people of Israel, if you don't want to listen to Me, then each one of you can go to his idols and serve them. But you may not keep on making my holy name impure. You do it when you serve idols and bring gifts to them.’
All the Israelites will serve the Lord on his holy_mountain
40The Lord God says: ‘This is sure: All the Israelites will serve Me on my holy_mountain, on the high mountains_of_Israel. Everyone in the land, all the Israelites, will serve Me there. I will accept you and I will accept your gift and the best offerings that you consecrate to Me. 41I have chased you away to other lands, but I will bring you back from among those nations and bring you together. You will be like an incense-offering to Me. The nations will see that I am your holy God. 42You will know that I am the Lord when I bring you into the land_of_Israel, the land that I promised to give to your forefathers. 43There you will remember how you lived when you made yourselves impure. You will feel bad and become sick when you think of all the bad things that you have done. 44Israelites, you will know that I am the Lord when I show you who I am, and when I don't punish you for the bad things that you have done and the sins that you did.’ This is what the Lord God said.
The Lord will light a fire
45The Lord talked to me and He said: 46‘Son of man, you must look towards the south, you must talk towards the south and prophesy_against the forest in the Negev. 47You must say: “Listen to what the Lord says. The Lord, who is God, says: I will start a fire against you and this fire will burn down every green tree and every dry tree in you. No one will be able to put out the flames of this fire. It will burn the faces of everyone from the south to the north. 48All the people will see that I, the Lord, have started the fire and no one will be able to put out the fire.” ’
49Then I said: ‘O Lord, my God, the people say that I am telling stories and parables. They say they don't understand them.’
