My brothers, do not hold the  ¹faith of our Lord Jesus Christ  ²of glory with respect of persons.

For if there comes into your  ¹synagogue a man with gold rings in splendid clothing, and there also comes in a poor man in filthy clothing,

And you look upon the one wearing the splendid clothing and say, You sit here in a good place, and to the poor man you say, You stand there, or sit under my footstool;

Have you not made  ¹distinctions  ²among yourselves and become judges with evil reasonings?

Listen, my beloved brothers: Did not God choose the poor  ¹in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the  ²kingdom, which He promised to those who  ³love Him?

But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and is it not they who drag you to the  ¹courts?

Is it not they who blaspheme the  ¹honorable name  ²by which you are called?

If indeed you are fulfilling the  ¹royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall  ²love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;

But if you respect persons, you  ¹commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

For whoever  ¹keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all.

For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

 ¹So speak and so do as those who are to be judged by the  ²law of freedom.

For the judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy; mercy  ¹triumphs over judgment.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, you are dwelling in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see and have ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Therefore you, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for captivity, and go into captivity by day in their sight; indeed you shall go into captivity from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.

And you shall bring your baggage forth by day in their sight like baggage for captivity, and you shall go forth in the evening in their sight as captives go forth.

In their sight you shall dig through the wall and bring your baggage through it.

In their sight you shall take it up on your shoulder; in the dark you shall bring it forth. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the ground, for I have given you as a sign to the house of Israel.

And I did as I was commanded: I brought forth my baggage by day like baggage for captivity, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand; in the dark I brought forth the baggage; on my shoulder I took it up in their sight.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me in the morning, saying,

Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, What are you doing?

Say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, This burden pertains to the prince in Jerusalem and to all the house of Israel, which is in it.

Say, I am a sign of you. As I have done, so will it be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity;

And the prince who is in their midst will take up his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and will go forth; they will dig through the wall in order to bring his baggage forth through it; he will hide his face so that he does not see the  ¹land with his eyes.

I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it and will die there.

And all who surround him to help him and all his armies, I will scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

And they will know that I am Jehovah, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the countries.

But I will keep a small number of men from among them from sword, from famine, and from pestilence that they may recount all their abominations among the nations to which they go; and they will know that I am Jehovah.

Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxious carefulness;

And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, They will eat their bread with anxious carefulness and drink their water with horror so that  ¹their land may be emptied of its fullness because of the violence of all who dwell in it.

And the inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will be a desolation; and you will know that I am Jehovah.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, what is this proverb that you all have concerning the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged and every vision fails?

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will bring this proverb to an end, so that they will no longer have the proverb in Israel. But say to them, The days have drawn near as well as the fulfillment of every vision.

For there will no longer be vain vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

For it is I, Jehovah, who speaks; whatever word I speak will be performed; it will no longer be delayed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a word and I will perform it, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And again the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, the house of Israel now says, The vision that he sees pertains to things many days from now, and he prophesies concerning distant times.

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, No words of Mine will be delayed any longer, but the word that I have spoken will be performed, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their heart, Hear the word of Jehovah:

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

Your prophets, O Israel, have become like foxes among ruins.

You have not gone up to the breaches nor built up the wall for the house of Israel that it might stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.

They have seen vanity and deceptive divination, they who say, Jehovah declares! when Jehovah has not sent them; but they expect that He will fulfill their word.

Have you not seen a vain vision and spoken deceptive divination when you say, Jehovah declares! and I have not spoken?

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because you have spoken vanity and have seen deceptive visions, therefore I am now against you, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And My hand will be upon the prophets who see vanity and perform deceptive divination; they shall not be in the council of My people, nor shall they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you will know that I am the Lord Jehovah;

Because, indeed because, they have led My people astray, saying, Peace, when there is no peace; but it is as if someone builds up a wall, and immediately they plaster it over with untempered mortar.

Tell those who plaster over with untempered mortar that it will fall. There will be a flooding rain; and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a tempestuous wind will break it down.

Indeed when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will cause a tempestuous wind to break forth in My wrath, and there will be a flooding rain in My anger, and hailstones to consume it in wrath.

And I will tear down the wall that you plastered over with untempered mortar and will tear it down to the ground, so that its foundation is uncovered; and it will fall, and you will be consumed in the midst of it; and you will know that I am Jehovah.

And I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, The wall is not there, and those who plaster it over are not there,

The prophets of Israel, who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and see visions of peace for her, when there is no peace, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And you, son of man, set your face toward the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their heart, and prophesy against them

And say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the women who sew bands on all the wrists and make caps for the heads of persons of every stature, so as to hunt down souls! Will you hunt down the souls of My people while you preserve alive the souls of others for yourselves?

And you have profaned Me before My people for some handfuls of barley and for some pieces of bread by putting to death some people who should not die and preserving alive other people who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to your lies.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, I am now against your bands with which you hunt down souls there as you would birds; and I will tear them off your arms and will release the souls, which souls you hunt down as you would birds.

I will also tear off your caps and will deliver My people from your hand, and they will no longer be in your hand to be hunted down; and you will know that I am Jehovah.

Because you discouraged the heart of the righteous man with lies, though I Myself did not pain him, and strengthened the hands of the wicked man so that he would not turn from his evil way and you would cause him to live,

Therefore you will no longer see vanity and you will no longer practice divination, but I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you will know that I am Jehovah.

Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, these men have  ¹set up their idols in their hearts and have put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I be inquired of at all by them?

Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Each and every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and goes to the prophet, I, Jehovah, will be found to be answering according to this, according to the multitude of his idols;

That I may lay hold of the house of Israel in their heart, who have become estranged from Me because of all their idols.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Repent, and turn away from your idols; and turn your faces away from all your abominations;

For each and every man of the house of Israel or of the sojourners who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and goes to the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, will be found to be answering him by Myself;

And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you will know that I am Jehovah.

But if the prophet is enticed to speak a word, I, Jehovah, have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.

And they will bear their iniquity: As the iniquity of the prophet is, so the iniquity of him who inquires of him shall be,

That the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and may no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, when a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand over it and break its staff of bread and send a famine against it and cut off man and beast from it;

Though these three men, *Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of it, they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, declares the Lord Jehovah.

If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land so that they  ¹destroyed its inhabitants and it became so desolate that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,

Though these three men were in the midst of it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they could not deliver even their sons and daughters; they alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

Or if I were to bring a sword upon that land and were to say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I were to cut off man and beast from it;

Though these three men were in the midst of it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they could not deliver even their sons and daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

Or if I were to send pestilence into that land and were to pour out My wrath upon it in blood so as to cut off man and beast from it,

Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they could not deliver even a son or daughter; they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness.

For thus says the Lord Jehovah, How much more then when I send My  ¹four severe judgments upon Jerusalem, sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence, to cut off man and beast from it!

Yet there will be a remnant left in it that will be brought forth, both sons and daughters. They will come forth to you, and you will see their ways and their doings; and you will be comforted for the ill that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.

And they will comfort you when you see their ways and their doings; and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all that I have done to it, declares the Lord Jehovah.