Judgment
And Restoration
30
'Therefore say to the House of Israel:
'THIS
IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS:
Will
you Defile yourselves the way your fathers did
And
Lust after their Vile Images?
31
When you Offer your Gifts--
THE
SACRIFICE OF YOUR SONS IN THE FIRE--
You
continue to Defile yourselves
With
all your Idols to this day.
AM
I TO LET YOU INQUIRE OF ME, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL?
32
'YOU SAY, WE WANT TO BE LIKE THE NATIONS,
LIKE
THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD,
WHO
SERVE WOOD AND STONE.'
But
what you have in mind will never happen,
33
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,
I
WILL RULE OVER YOU WITH A MIGHTY HAND
AND
OUTSTRETCHED ARM AND OUTPOURING WRATH.
34
I will bring you from the Nations
And
gather you from the Countries where you have been Scattered--
WITH
A MIGHTY OUTSTRETCHED ARM AND OUTPOURING WRATH.
35
I will bring you into the Desert of the Nations
AND
THERE, FACE TO FACE,
I
WILL EXECUTE JUDGMENT ON YOU.
36
As I Judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt,
So
I will Judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord.
37
I will take note of you as you pass under My Staff,
AND
I WILL BRING YOU INTO THE BOND OF THE COVENANT.
38
I WILL PURGE YOU OF THOSE WHO REVOLT AND REBEL AGAINST ME.
Although
I bring them out of the land where they are living,
Yet
they will not enter the land of Israel.
THEN
YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.
39
'As for you, O House of Israel,
THIS
IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS:
Go
and serve your Idols, every one of you!
But
afterward you will surely listen to Me
And
no longer Profane My Holy Name with your Gifts and Idols.
40
For on My Holy Mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord,
There
in the Land the entire House of Israel
Will
serve Me, and there I will accept them.
There
I will require your Offerings and Choice Gifts,
Along
with all your Holy Sacrifices.
I
will accept you as Fragrant Incense
WHEN
I BRING YOU OUT FROM THE NATIONS
AND
GATHER YOU FROM THE COUNTRIES
WHERE
YOU HAVE BEEN SCATTERED,
AND
I WILL SHOW MYSELF HOLY AMONG YOU
IN
THE SIGHT OF THE NATIONS.
42
THEN YOU WILL KNOW I AM THE LORD,
WHEN
I BRING YOU INTO THE LAND OF ISRAEL,
THE
LAND I HAD SWORN WITH UPLIFTED HAND
TO
GIVE TO YOUR FATHERS.
43 There
you will remember your Conduct
And
all the Actions by which you have Defiled yourselves,
And
you will Loathe yourselves for all the Evil you have done.
44
YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD,
When
I deal with you for My Name's Sake
And
not according to your Evil Ways
And
of your Corrupt Practices, O House of Israel,
Declares
the Sovereign Lord.'
Prophecy
Against The South
45
The Word of the Lord came to me:
'Son
of man, set your face toward the South;
Preach
against the South;
And
Prophesy against the forest of the Southland.
47
Say to the Southern forest:
'HEAR
THE WORD OF THE LORD.
THIS
IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS:
I
am about to set fire to you,
And
it will consume all your trees, both green and dry.
The
Blazing Flame will not be quenched,
And
every face from south to north will be Scorched by it.
48
Everyone will see that I the Lord have Kindled it;
It
will not be quenched.'
49
Then I said, 'Ah, Sovereign Lord!
They
are saying of me,
'ISN'T
HE JUST TELLING PARABLES?'
(Ezekiel
20: 30-49)
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