Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

And say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem, You're origin and your birth are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.

As for your birth, on the day that you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling clothes.

No eye pitied you enough to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown into the open field because you were loathed on the day that you were born.

And I passed by you and saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you while you were in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, Live!

I caused you to increase like the sprouts of the field; and you increased and grew big, and you came to full beauty; your breasts became firm and your hair grew; but you were naked and bare.

Then I passed by you and saw you; and then was your time a time of love. And I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness; indeed I swore unto you and entered into a  ¹covenant with you, declares the Lord Jehovah, and you became Mine.

Then I washed you with water; yes, I washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

I also clothed you with an embroidered garment and put sandals of porpoise skin on you, and I bound your head with fine linen and covered you with silk.

And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck;

And I put a ring in your nose and earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.

Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and silk and embroidery; you ate fine flour and honey and oil. And you became so very beautiful, and you prospered so as to become royalty.

And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor, which I had put upon you, declares the Lord Jehovah.

But you trusted in your beauty and went about as a harlot because of your renown, and you poured out your fornications upon everyone who passed by; your beauty became his.

And you took some of your garments and made high places of varied colors for yourself, and you committed fornication upon them, things that had never happened before, nor should have been.

And you took your beautiful articles, made of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made images of men for yourself and committed fornication with them.

And you took your garments of embroidery and covered them, and you offered My oil and My incense before them.

And My bread, which I had given you, the fine flour and oil and honey that I fed you with, you offered before them as a sweet savor; thus it was, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Moreover you took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne unto Me, and you sacrificed them to those idols to be devoured. Were your fornications a small matter,

That you slaughtered My children and delivered them up to pass through fire unto those idols?

And in all your abominations and fornications you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and you were kicking about in your blood.

Then after all your wickedness (Woe, woe to you! declares the Lord Jehovah)

You built yourself a mound and made yourself an elevation in every open square.

At the head of every street you built your elevation and caused your beauty to be abhorred; and you spread your legs to everyone who passed by and multiplied your fornications.

You also committed fornication with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors, great of flesh, and multiplied your fornications to provoke Me to anger.

Indeed then I stretched out My hand over you and diminished the food apportioned to you; and I delivered you to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

You also committed fornication with the sons of Assyria because you were not satisfied; and you committed fornication with them and were still not satisfied.

Furthermore you multiplied your fornications into the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet you were still not satisfied by this.

How feeble is your heart, declares the Lord Jehovah, in that you do all these things, the actions of an unrestrained harlot!

When you built your mound at the head of every street and you made your elevation in every open square, you were not like a harlot, by disdaining payment.

The adulterous wife takes strangers instead of her husband.

Men give gifts to all harlots, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers and bribed them to come to you from all around for your fornications.

Thus you are perverse compared to other women in your fornications, in that they do not go after you as a prostitute, but you give payment and no payment is given to you; therefore you are perverse.

Therefore, you harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered through your fornications with your lovers and with all your abominable idols and because of the blood of your children, whom you gave to them,

Therefore I am about to gather all your lovers whom you have pleased, indeed, all those whom you loved, with all those whom you hated; thus I will gather them against you from all around, and I will uncover your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness.

And I will judge you with the judgment that falls on adulterous women and on women who shed blood, and I will bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

And I will give you into their hand; and they will tear down your mounds and break down your elevations; they will also strip you of your garments and take your beautiful articles, and they will leave you naked and bare.

And they will raise up a crowd against you and will stone you with stones and will cut you to pieces with their swords.

And they will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. And I will stop you from being a harlot, and also you will no longer give payment.

Thus I will cause My wrath against you to rest, and My jealousy will turn from you; and I will be quiet and angry no more.

Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have  ¹raged against Me in all these things, therefore, I, for My part, will bring your ways upon your head, declares the Lord Jehovah; and you will not commit this lewdness in addition to all your abominations.

Indeed everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb concerning you, saying, As the mother is, so is her daughter.

You are the daughter of your mother, she who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, they who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite.

And your older sister is Samaria with her daughters, who lives to your left; and your sister who is younger than you, who lives to your right, is Sodom with her daughters.

But you have not walked merely according to their ways and have not acted merely according to their abominations; but, as if such were too small a thing, you acted more corruptly in all your ways than they did.

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, Sodom your sister, she with her daughters, has not done as you have done, you with your daughters.

Indeed this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, abundance of bread, and careless ease were with her and her daughters, but she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy;

And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me. Therefore I took them away when I saw it.

And Samaria has not committed the half of your sins, but you have multiplied your abominations more than they and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have committed.

Bear then also your disgrace, which you have adjudged to your sisters; through your sins which you have committed more abominably than they, they are more righteous than you; indeed then be also put to shame and bear your disgrace, in that you have made your sisters appear to be more righteous.

But I will turn their captivity, the captivity of Sodom with her daughters and the captivity of Samaria with her daughters, as well as the captivity of your captives with them;

That you may bear your disgrace and be disgraced for all that you have done, in that you were a comfort to them.

And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters, will return to their former state, and Samaria with her daughters will return to their former state; and you with your daughters will return to your former state.

Indeed, was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth on the day of your pride,

Before your wickedness was uncovered? So now you are the reproach of the daughters of  ¹Aram and all who are around her and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.

You have borne your own lewdness and abominations, declares Jehovah.

For thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will also do with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an eternal covenant for you.

Then you will remember your ways and you will be disgraced when you receive your sisters, the one older than you and the one younger than you; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.

And I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am Jehovah,

That you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth because of your disgrace, when I make propitiation for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and utter a parable to the house of Israel;

And say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, A great  ¹eagle with great wings, long pinions, and full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

He cropped off its topmost young  ¹twig and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders.

He also took some of the seed of the land and put it in a fertile field; he took it and set it by abundant waters like a willow,

That it might sprout and become a low, running vine with its branches turned toward him and its roots under him. And it became a vine and produced offshoots and sent forth boughs.

And there was another great  ¹eagle with great wings and much plumage; and then this vine bent its roots toward him, and from the beds where it was planted it sent out its branches toward him that he might water it.

In a good field by abundant waters it had been transplanted so that it would produce branches and bear fruit, that it might be a magnificent vine.

Say then, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit so that it withers? All its fresh sprouting leaves will wither, even without great strength or a mighty people pulling it up from its roots.

And indeed, though it has been transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not wither completely once the east wind touches it? In the beds where it was planted it will wither.

Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Say, Indeed the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and he took its  ¹king and its rulers and brought them to him at Babylon.

And he took  ¹someone of the royal seed and made a covenant with him and put him under an oath. He also took the mighty men of the land,

That the kingdom might be humble, that it might not lift itself up, but by keeping his covenant, it might stand.

But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does these things escape? Can he break the covenant and slip away?

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely in the land of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, with him in the midst of Babylon he will die.

And Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not aid him in battle, when they cast up mounds and build siegeworks to cut off many lives.

Indeed, he despised the oath by breaking the covenant; yes, he even gave his hand and yet did all these things; he will not slip away.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, As I live, surely My oath, which he despised, and My covenant, which he broke, I will bring upon his head.

And I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there concerning his unfaithfulness by which he has been unfaithful to Me.

And all his  ¹choice men with all his armies will fall by the sword, and those who are left will be scattered into every wind; and you will know that I, Jehovah, have spoken.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will also take a  ¹twig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out; from the topmost of its young twigs I will crop off a tender one, and I will transplant it upon a high and prominent mountain.

On the high mountain of Israel I will transplant it; and it will bear branches and produce fruit and will become a magnificent cedar; and under it all birds of every kind will nest; in the shade of its branches they will nest.

And all the trees of the field will know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the exalted tree and have exalted the lowly tree, that I have dried up the green tree and have made the dry tree bud. I, Jehovah, have spoken, and I will do it.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, the use of this parable will no longer be with you in Israel.

Indeed all souls are Mine; indeed as is the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins, he shall die.

But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,

And does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and does not defile his neighbor's wife or come near a menstruous woman;

And if a man does not oppress anyone but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not plunder but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment;

If he does not lend with interest or collect with an increase; if he withdraws his hand from iniquity and exercises true justice between man and man;

If he walks in My statutes and keeps My judgments to do truth — he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord Jehovah.

But if he begets a violent son, one who sheds blood or does only one of these things

(Though he himself has done none of these things); if he even eats upon the mountains or defiles his neighbor's wife,

Oppresses the poor and needy, commits plunder, does not restore the pledge, or lifts his eyes to the idols and commits abomination,

Lends with interest or collects with an increase; then will he live? He shall not live. He has committed all these abominations; he shall surely die. His blood shall be upon him.

But if he begets a son, and the son sees all the sins of his father that he has done, and he sees and does not do the like;

He does not eat upon the mountains and does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife,

Does not oppress anyone, does not keep the pledge and does not plunder, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment,

Takes his hand off the poor and does not collect with interest or increase, does My ordinances and walks in My statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; he shall surely live.

As for his father, because he practiced extortion, plundered his brother, and did that which was not good in the midst of his people, indeed he shall die for his iniquity.

Yet you say, Why? Does not the son share the punishment for the father's iniquity? When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live.

The soul who sins, he shall die; the son shall not share the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor shall the father share the punishment for the son's iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous man shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man shall be upon him.

But if the wicked man turns from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of his righteousness that he has practiced he shall live.

Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord Jehovah, and not in his turning away from his ways that he may live?

But when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity and commits all the abominations that the wicked man commits, will he live? None of his righteousness that he has practiced shall be remembered. Because of his unfaithfulness in which he has acted unfaithfully and because of his sin which he has sinned, because of them, he shall die.

Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity and dies as a consequence, because of his iniquity that he has practiced he shall die.

Again, when a wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has practiced and practices justice and righteousness, he shall save his life.

Because he sees and turns from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Yet the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not fair. Are My ways not fair, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his ways, declares the Lord Jehovah.  ¹Repent, and turn away from all your transgressions so that iniquity will not become a stumbling block to you.

Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

For I take no pleasure in the death of him who dies, declares the Lord Jehovah; therefore turn and live.