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Chapter 17
The word of the Lord came unto
me, saying: Thou son of man: put forth a dark speaking and a
parable, unto the house of Israel, And say: Thus saith the Lord God:
There came a great Eagle with great wings, yee with mighty long
wings, full of feathers, of diverse colors, upon the mount of
Libanus, and took a branch from a Cedar tree, and break off the top
of his twig, and carried it into the land of Canaan, and set it in a
city of merchants. He took also a branch of the land, and planted it
in a fruitful ground, he brought it unto great waters, and set it as
a willow tree thereby. Then did it grow, and was a great vine stock,
but low by the ground: thus there came of it a vine, and it brought
forth blossoms, and spread out branches. But their was another
Eagle, a great one, which had great wings and many feathers: and
behold, the roots of this vine had an hunger after him, and spread
out his branches toward him, to water his fruits: Nevertheless it
was planted upon good ground beside great waters: so that ( by
reason ) it should have brought out branches and fruit, and have
been a goodly vine. Speak thou therefore, thus saith the Lord God:
Shall this vine prosper? Shall not his roots be plucked out, his
fruit be broken off, his green branches wither and fade away? Yee
without strong armies or many people, shall it be plucked up by the
roots. Behold, it was planted: shall it prosper therefore. Shall it
not be dried up and withered, yee even in the shooting out of its
blossoms, as soon as the east wind bloweth?
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying: Speak that
froward household: Know ye not, what these things do signify? Tell
them: Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the
King and his Princes, and led them to Babylon.
He took of the kings seed, and made a covenant with him, and
took an oath of him: The Princes of the land toke he with him also,
that the land might be held in subjection, and not rebel, but keep
the covenant, and fulfill it. But he fell from him, and sent his
embassy tours into Egypt that he might have horses and much people.
Should that prosper? Should he be kept safe, that doeth such things?
Or should he escape, that breaketh his covenant? As truly as I live
saith the Lord God: He shall die in Babylon, in the place where the
King dwelleth, that made him King: whos oath he has despised,
Neither shall Pharaoh with his great host and multitude of people,
maintain him in the war: Then they cast up ditches, and set up
bulwarks to destroy much people. For seeing he despised the oath,
and broken the covenant, ( where as he yet give his hand thereupon )
and done all these things, he shall not escape.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: As truly as I live, I will
bring mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath
broken, upon his own head. I will cast my net about him, and catch
him in my yarn. To Babylon will I carry him, there will I punish
him, because of the great offense that he made me. As for those that
flee from him out of the host, they shall be slayen with the sword.
The residue shall be scattered toward all the winds: and ye shall
know, that I the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take a branch from an
high Cedar tree, and will set it, and take the uppermost twig, that
is yet but tender, and plant it upon an high hill: Namely, upon the
high hill of Sion will I plant it: that it may bring forth twigs,
and give fruit, and be a great cedar tree: so that all manner of
fowls may bide in it, and make their nests under the shadow of his
branches.
And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have
brought down the high tree, and set the low tree up: that I have
dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish: Even I
the Lord that speak it, have also brought it to pass.
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Chapter 18
The word of the Lord came unto
me, on this manner: what mean ye, by this common proverb, that ye
use in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge? As truly as I live,
saith the Lord God, ye shall use this byword no more in Israel.
Behold, all souls are mine. Like as the father is mine, so is
the son mine also. The soul that sinneth, shall die. If a man be
godly, and do the thing that is equal and right, he eateth not upon
the hills: he lifteth not his eyes up to the Idols of Israel, he
defileth not his neighbors wife: he meddleth with no menstruous
woman: he grieveth nobody: he giveth his debtor his pledge again ,
he raketh none other mans goods by violence: he parteth his meat
with the hungry: he clotheth the naked: he lendeth nothing upon
usury: he taketh nothing over: he with draweth his hand from doing
wrong: he handleth faithfully between man and man: he walketh in my
commandments, and keepeth my laws, and performeth them faithfully:
This is a righteous man, he shall surly live saith the Lord God.
If he now get a son, that is a murderer, a shedder of blood:
if he do one of these things ( though he do not all ) he eateth upon
the hills: he defiled his neighbors wife: he grieveth the poor and
needy: he robbeth and spoileth: he giveth not the debtor his pledge
again, he lifteth up his eyes unto Idols, and meddle with abominable
things: he lendeth upon usury, and taketh moreover. Shall this man
live? He shall not live. Seeing he hath done all these abominations,
he shall die his blood shall be upon him.
Now if this man get a son also, that seeth all his fathers
sins, which he hath done: and feareth, neither do such like: Namely
, he eateth not upon the mountains: he lifteth not up his eyes to
the Idols of Israel: he defileth not his neighbors wife: he vexeth
no man: he keepeth no mans pledge, he neither spoileth, nor robbeth
any man: he dealeth his meat with the hungry: he clotheth the naked:
he opresseth not the poor: he receiveth no usury, nor anything over:
he keepeth my laws, and walketh in my comandments: this man shall
not die in his fathers sin, but shall live without fail. As for his
father: because he oppressed and spoiled his brother, and did
wickedly among his people: Lo, he is dead in his own sin. And yet
say ye: Wherefore then should not the son bear his fathers sin?
Therefore shall he live in deed. The same soul that sinneth, shall
die. The son shall not bear the fathers offense. The righteousness
of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked
shall be upon him self also. But if the ungodly will turn away from
all his sins that he hath done, and keep all my comandments, and do
the thing that is equal and right: doubtless he shall live, and not
die. As for all the sins that he did before, they shall not be
thought upon: but in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall
live. For have I any pleasure in the death of a sinner, sayeth the
Lord God: but rather that he convert, and live?
Again: If the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and
do iniquity, according to all the abominations, that the wicked man
doeth, shall he live? All the righteousness that he hath done, shall
not be thought upon: but in the fault that he offended withal and in
the sin that he hath done, he shall die.
And yet ye say: Tush, the way of the Lord is not indifferent.
Hear therefore ye house of Israel: Is not my way right? Or, are not
your ways rather wicked? When a righteous man turneth away from his
righteousness, and meddleth with ungodliness: he must die therein:
yee for the unrighteousness that he hath done, he must die. Again:
when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness, that he hath
done, and doeth the thing which is equal and right: he shall save
his soul alive. For in so much that he remembereth himself, and
turneth him from all ungodliness that he used, he shall live, and
not die.
And yet saith the house of Israel: Tush, the way of the Lord
is not equal. Are my ways unright, O ye house of Israel: Are not
your ways rather unequal? As for me, I will judge every man,
according to his ways, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
Wherefore be converted, and turn you clean from all your wickedness,
so shall there no sin do you harm. Cast away from you all your
ungodliness, that ye have done: make you new hearts and new spirit.
Wherefore will ye die, O ye house of Israel: seeing that I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth, sayeth the Lord God. Turn
you then, and ye shall live.
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Chapter 19
But mourn thou for the princes
of Israel, and say: Wherefore lay thy mother that lioness among
lions, and nourished her young ones among the lions whelps? One of
her whelps she brought up, and it became a young lion: it likened to
spoil, and devoured folk. The heathen heard of him, and took him in
their nets, and brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
Now when the dame saw, that all her hope and comfort was away,
she took another of her whelps, and made lion of him: which went
among the lions, and became a fierce lion: learned to spoil, and
devoured folk: he devoured their palaces, and made their cities
waste. In so much that the whole land and every thing therin, were
utterly desolate, through the very voice of his roaring.
Then came the heathen together on every side out of all
countries against him, layed their nets for him, and took him in
their pit. So they bound him with chains, and brought him to the
king of Babylon: which put him in prison, that his voice should no
more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. As for thy mother, she
is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the water side: her fruits
and branches are grown out of many waters, her stalks were so
strong, that men might have made staves thereof for officers: she
grew so high in her stalks.
So when men saw that she exceeded the height and multitude of
her branches, she was rooted out in displeasure, and cast down to
the ground. The East wind dried up her fruit, her strong stalks were
broken off, withered and burnt in the fire. But now she is planted
in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. And there is a fire
gone out of her stalks, which hath burnt up her branches and her
fruit: so that she hath no more strong stalks, to be staves for
officers. This is a piteous and miserable thing.
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Chapter 20
In the seventh year, the tenth
day of the fifth month, it happened, that certain of the elders of
Israel came unto me, for to ask counsel at the Lord, and sat them
down by me. Then came the word of the Lord unto me on this manner:
Thou son of man: speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them:
Thus saith the Lord God: Are ye come hither to ask anything at me?
As truly as I live, ( saith the Lord God ) I will give you no
answer. Wilt thou not reprove them ( thou son of man ) wilt thou not
reprove them? Show them the abominations of their fathers: and tell
them: Thus saith the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel, and
lift up mine hand upon the seed of the house of Jacob, and showed
myself unto them in the land of Egypt, Yee when I lift up mine hand
over them, and said: I am the Lord your God, even in that day that I
lift up mine hand over them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
into a land that I provided for them, which flowed with milk and
honey, and is a pleasant land among all others: Then said I unto
them: Cast away every man the abominations that he hath before him,
and defile not yourselves with the Idols of Egypt, for I am the Lord
your God.
But they rebelled against me, and would not follow me: to cast
away every man the abominations of his eyes, and to forsake the
Idols of Egypt. Then I made me to pour my indignation over them, and
to satisfy my wrath upon them: Yee even in the midst of the land of
Egypt. But I would not do it, for my names sake: that it should not
be unhallowed before the Heathen, among whom they dwelt, and among
whom I showed my self unto them, that I would bring them out of the
land of Egypt. Now when I had carried them out of the land of Egypt,
and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my comandments,
and showed them my laws: which who so keepeth shall live in them. I
gave them also my holy days, to be a token between me and them, and
thereby to know, that I am the Lord, which halloweth them. And yet
the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness, they
would not walk in my comandments, they have cast away my laws (
which whose keepeth should live in them ) and my Sabbath days have
they greatly unhallowed.
Then I made me to pour out my indignation upon them, and to
consume them in the wilderness, Yet I would not do it, for my names
sake: least it should be dishonored before the Heathen, from which I
had carried them away. But I swore unto them in the wilderness, that
I would not bring them into the land, which I give them: a land that
floweth with milk and honey, and is a pleasure of all lands: and
because they refused my laws, and walked not in my comandments, but
had unhallowed my Sabbaths, for their heart was gone after their
idols. Nevertheless mine eye spared them, so that I would not
utterly slay them, and consume them in the wilderness. Moreover, I
said unto their sons in the wilderness: walk not in the statutes of
your forefathers, keep not their ordinances, and defile yourselves
with their idols, for I am the Lord your God. But walk in my
statutes, keep my laws and do them, hallow my Sabbaths: for they are
a token between you and me, that ye may know how that I am the Lord
your God. Notwithstanding, their sons rebelled against me also: they
walked not in my statutes, they kept not my laws to fulfill them (
which he that doth shall live in them ) neither hallowed they my
Sabbath days. Then I made me to pour out my indignation over them,
and to satisfy my wrath upon them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I
withdrew mine hand for my names sake, least it should be unhallowed
among the Heathen, before whom I had brought them forth. I lift up
mine hand over them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter
them among the Heathen, and strew them among the nations: because
they had not kept my laws, but cast aside my comandments, unhallowed
my Sabbaths, and lift up their eyes to their fathers Idols.
Wherefore I also gave them comandments not good, and laws through
the which they should not live, and I unhallowed them in their own
gifts ( when I appointed for my own self all their first born ) to
make them desolate: that they might know that I am the Lord.
Therefore ( O son of man ) tell the house of Israel, thus
saith the Lord God: Behold all this, your fathers have yet
blasphemed me more, and greatly offended against me: For after I had
brought them into the land, That I promised to give to them, when
they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees: they made their
offerings, and provoked me with their oblations, making sweet
saviours there, and poured out their drink offerings. Then I ask
them, What have ye to with all, that ye go thither? And therefore it
is called the high place unto this day. Wherefore, speak unto the
house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: ye are even as unclean as
your forefathers, and commit whoredom also with their abominations.
In all your idols, where unto you bring your oblations, and to whos
honor ye burn your children: ye defile your selves, even unto this
day: how dare ye then come , and ask any question at me? O ye
household of Israel? As truly as I live ( saith the Lord God ) ye
get no answer of me: and as for the thing that ye go about, it shall
not come to pass, where as ye say: we will be as the Heathen, and do
as other people in the land, wood and stone will we worship.
As truly as I live, saith the Lord God, I myself will rule you
with a mighty hand, with a stretched out arm, and with indignation
poured out over you: and will bring you out of the nations and
lands, wherein ye are scattered: and gather you together with a
mighty hand, with a stretched out arm and with indignation poured
out upon you: and will bring you into the wilderness of the people,
and there I will reason with you face to face. Like as I punished
your forefathers in the wilderness, so will I punish you also, saith
the Lord God. I will bring you under my jurisdiction, and under the
bond of the covenant. The forsakers also and the transgressors will
I take from among you, and bring them out of the land of your
habitations: As for the land of Israel, they shall no come in it:
that they may know that I am the Lord.
Go now then ( thus saith the Lord God ) ye house of Israel,
cast away, and destroy every man his Idols: then shall ye hear me,
and no more blaspheme my holy name with your offerings and Idols.
But upon my holy hill, even upon the high hill of Israel shall all
the house of Israel and all that is in the land, worship me: and in
the same place will I savoir them, and there will I require your
heave offerings, and the firstlings of your oblations, with all your
holy things.
I will accept your sweet savoir, when I bring you from the
nations, and gather you together out of the lands, wherein ye be
scattered: that I may be hallowed in you before the Heathen. and
that ye may know, that I am the Lord, which have brought you into
the land of Israel: Yee into the same land, that I swore to give to
your forefathers. There shall ye call to remembrance your own ways
and all your imaginations, wherein ye have been defiled: and ye
shall be displeased with your own selves, for all your wickedness,
that ye have done. And ye shall know that I am the Lord: when I
entreat you after my name, not after your wicked ways, nor according
to your corrupt works: O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord.
Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Thou son
of man, set thy face toward the south, and speak to the south wind,
and say to the wood toward the south: Hear the word of the Lord,
thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, that
shall consume thee green trees with the Dry. No man shall be able to
quench his flame, but all that looketh from the south to the north
shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see, that I the Lord
have kindled it, so that no man shall quench it. Then said I: O'
Lord, they will say of me: Tush, they are but fables that he telleth.
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Chapter 21
The word of the Lord came to me,
saying: Thou son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, speak
against the Sanctuary, and prophesy against the land of Israel, say
to the land of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will upon
thee, and will draw my sword out of the sheath, and root out of thee
the righteous and the wicked, Seeing then that I will root out of
thee both the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go
out of his sheath against all flesh from the north to the south:
that all flesh may know, how that I the Lord, have drawn my sword
out of the sheath, and it shall not be put in again.
Mourn therefore ( O thou son of man ) that thy loins crack
withal, yee mourn bitterly for them: And if they say, wherefore
mournest thou? Then tell them: for the tidings that cometh, at the
which all hearts shall melt, all hands shall be letten down, all
stomachs shall faint, and all knees shall wax feeble. Behold, it
cometh, and shall be fulfilled, saith the Lord God.
Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Thou son of
man, prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord God: speak, the sword is
sharpened and well scoured. Sharpened is it for slaughter, and
scoured that it may be bright. *O, the destroying staff of my son,
shall bring down all wood. He hath put his sword to the *dighting,
that good hold may be taken of it. This sword is sharpened and *dight,
that it may be given into the hand of the man slayer.
Cry ( O thou son of man ) and howl, for this sword shall smite
my people, and all the rulers of Israel, which with my people shall
be slain down to the ground through his sword. Smite thou upon thy
thigh, For wherefor should not the plague and staff of judgement
come? Prophesy thou son of man, and smite thine hands together: make
the sword two edged, yee make it three edged, the manslayers sword,
that sword of great slaughter, which shall smite them, even in their
privy chambers: to make them abashed and faint at the hearts, and in
all gates to make some of them fall. O how bright and sharp it is,
how will dight and meat for the slaughter. Get thee to some place
alone, either upon the right hand or the left, wither so ever thy
face turneth. I will smite thy hands together also and satisfy my
wrothfull indignation: Even I the Lord hath said it.
The word of the Lord came yet unto me again saying: Thou son
of man, make thee two streets, that the sword of the king of Babylon
may come. Both these streets shall go out of one land. He shall set
him up a place, at the head of the street shall he choose him out a
corner. Make that a street, that the sword may come toward Kabbath
of the Ammonites, and to the strong city of Jerusalem. For the king
of Babylon shall stand in the turning of the way, at the head of the
two trees: to ask counsel of the soothsayers, casting the lots with
his arrows, to ask counsel at the Idols, and to look in the liver.
But the soothsaying shall point to the right side upon Jerusalem,
that he may set men of war, to smite it with a great noise, to cry
out Alarm, to set battle rams against the gates, to grave up
ditches, and to make bulwarks.
Nevertheless, as for the soothsaying, they shall hold it but
for vanity, even as though a jest were told them: yee and they
themselves remember their wickedness, so that by right they must be
taken and *womne.Therefore saith the Lord God: for as much as ye
yourselves show your offense, and have opened your wickedness, so
that in all your works men may see your sins: yee in so much ( I say
) that ye yourselves have made mention thereof ye shall be taken by
violence.
O thou shameful wicked guide of Israel whose day is come: even
the time when wickedness shall have an end: Thus saith the Lord God:
take away the miser, and put off the crown, and so is it away: the
humble is exalted, and the proud brought low. Punish, punish, yee
punish them will I, and destroy them: and that shall not be
fulfilled till he come, to whom the judgement belongeth, and to whom
I have given it. And thou ( O son of man ) prophecy, and speak: Thus
saith the Lord God to the children of Ammon, and to their blaspheme,
speak thou: The sword, the sword is drawn forth already to
slaughter, and scoured that it glittereth ( because thou hast looked
out vanities, and prophesied lies ) that it may come upon thy neck,
like as upon the other ungodly, which be slain: whose day came, when
their wickedness was full.
Though it were put up again into the sheath, yet will I punish
thee, in the land where thou wast nourished and born, and pour my
indignation upon thee and will blow upon thee in the fire of my
wrath, and deliver thee unto evil people, which are learned to
destroy. Thou shalt feed the fire and thy blood shall be shed in the
land, that thou mayest be put out of remembrance. Even I the Lord
have spoken it.
*dighting=prepared, dressed, made ready. *womne (won).
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Chapter 22
Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me, and said: thou son of man, wilt not reprove this blood
thirsty city? Show them their abominations, and tell them: Thus
saith the Lord God: O thou city, that sheddest blood in the midst of
thee, that thy time may come also: and makest the Idols to defile
thee withal. Thou hast made thy self guilty in the blood that thou
hast shed, and defiled thee in the Idols, which thou hast made. Thou
hast caused thy days to draw nye, and made the time of thy years to
come. Therefore will I make thee to be confounded among the heathen,
and to be defiled in all the lands, whether they be nye or far from
thee: they shall laugh thee to scorn, thou that hast gotten thee so
foul a name, and art full of mischief. Behold, the rulers of Israel
have brought every man his power, to shed blood in thee. In thee
have they despised father and mother, in thee have they oppressed
the stranger, in thee have they vexed the widow and the fatherless.
Thou hast despised my Sanctuary, and unhallowed my sabbath. Murders
are there in thee, that shed blood, and eat upon the hills, and in
thee they use unhappiness.
In thee have they discovered their fathers shame, in thee have
they vexed women in their sickness. Every man hath dealt shamefully
with his neighbors wife, and abominably defiled his daughter in law.
In that hath every man forced his own sister, even his fathers
daughter. Yee gifts have been received in thee, to shed blood. Thou
hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast oppressed thy neighbors
by extortion, and forgotten me, saith the Lord God. Behold, I have
smitten my hands upon thy covetousness, that thou hast used, and
upon the blood which hath been in thee. Is thy heart able to endure
it, or may thy hands defend themselves, in the time that I shall
bring upon thee? Even I the Lord that speak it, will bring it also
to pass. I will scatter thee among the heathen, and strew thee about
in the lands, and will cause thy filthiness to cease out of thee.
Yee and I will have thee in possession in the sight of the Heathen,
that thou mayest know that I am the Lord.
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Thou son of
man, the house of Israel is turned to *dross. All they that should
be brass, tin, iron, and lead, are in the fire become dross.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: for as much as ye have all
turned into dross, behold: I will bring you together unto Jerusalem,
like as silver, and brass, iron, tin, and lead, are put together in
the furnace and the fire blown there under to melt them: Even so I
will gather you, put you in together, and melt you in my wrath and
indignation. I will bring you together, and kindle the fire of my
cruel displeasure under you, that ye may be melted therein.
Like as silver is melted in the fire, so shall ye also be
melted therein: that ye may know, how that I the Lord have poured my
wrath upon you.
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Thou son of
man, tell her: Thou art an unclean land, which is not rained upon in
the day of the cruel wrath: thy Prophets that are in thee, are sworn
together to devour souls, like as a roaring Lion, that liveth by his
prey. They receive riches and good, and make many widows in thee.
Thy priests break my law, and defile my Sanctuary. They put no
difference between the holy and unholy, neither discern between the
clean and the unclean: they turn their eyes from my sabbaths, and I
am unhallowed among you. Thy rulers in thee are like raving wolves,
to shed blood, and to destroy souls, for their own *covetous lucre.
As for thy Prophets, they daub with untempered clay, they see
vanities, and prophecy lies unto thee, saying: the Lord God sayeth
so, where as the Lord hath not spoken. The people in the land useth
wicked extortion and robbery. They vex the poor and needy and
oppress the stranger against right. And I sought the land for a man,
that would make up the hedge, and set himself in the gap before me
in the lands behalf, that I should not utterly destroy it: but I
could find none. Therefore will I poured out my cruel displeasure
upon them, and burn them in the fire of my wrath: their own ways
will I recompense upon their heads saith the Lord God.
*dross=waste product formed during the firing of metal to make it
soft (molten).
*covetous lucre= unearned profit, unjust gain, and/ or gain (profit)
acquired by violence and or usury (Heb) RN
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Chapters
1-8 |
9-16
| 17-22 |
23-28
| 29-35 |
36-41
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