CHAPTER 20

¹And it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD and sat down before me. ²And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ³“Man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, Thus said the Master, the LORD: To inquire of Me do you come? By My life, I will not respond to your inquiry, said the LORD. ⁴Will you judge them, will you judge, man? Make known to them all the abominations of their fathers. ⁵And say to them, Thus said the Master, the LORD: On the day I chose Israel, I raised My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, saying, I am the LORD your God. ⁶On that day I raised My hand to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, a splendor for all the lands. ⁷And I said to them: Let each man fling away the loathsome things that are before his eyes, and do not be defiled with the foul things of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. ⁸But they rebelled against Me and did not want to heed Me. Each man did not fling away the loathsome things that were before his eyes, and they did not forsake the foul things of Egypt. And I thought to pour out My wrath upon them, to exhaust My anger against them in the land of Egypt. ⁹But I acted for the sake of My name, that it not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were, as I had made Myself known before their eyes, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰And I brought them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹And I gave them My statutes and made My laws known to them, that a man should do them and live through them. ¹²And My sabbaths, too, I gave to them to be a sign between Me and them, to know that I am the LORD who hallows them. ¹³And the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes, and they spurned My laws, that a man should do them and live. And My sabbaths they profaned grievously, and I thought to pour My wrath against them in the wilderness. ¹⁴But I acted for the sake of My name, not to profane it in the eyes of the nations before whose eyes I had brought them out. ¹⁵And I on My part raised My hand to them in the wilderness not to bring them to the land that I had given, flowing with milk and honey, a splendor to all the lands, ¹⁶inasmuch as they spurned My statutes, they had not followed them, and My sabbaths they had profaned, for after the foul things their heart had gone. ¹⁷But My eye had pity for them not to destroy them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. ¹⁸And I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the statues of your fathers and do not keep their laws and do not be defiled with their foul things. ¹⁹I am the LORD your God. Follow My statutes and keep My laws and do them. ²⁰And hallow My sabbaths, that they be a sign between Me and you to know that I am the LORD your God. ²¹And the sons rebelled against Me, My statutes they did not follow and My laws they did not keep to do them, which a man does and lives through them. My sabbaths they profaned. And I thought to pour out My wrath on them, to exhaust My anger against them in the wilderness. ²²But I pulled back My hand and acted for the sake of My name not to profane it in the eyes of the nations before whose eyes I had brought them out. ²³I on My part raised My hand to them in the wilderness to disperse them among the nations and to scatter them in the lands. ²⁴Inasmuch as they did not do My laws and they spurned My statutes and they profaned My sabbaths and their eyes went after the foul things of their fathers. ²⁵And I on My part gave them statutes that were not good and laws through which they would not live. ²⁶And I defiled them with their gifts when they passed every womb-breach in sacrifice, so that I might desolate them, so they might know that I am the LORD. ²⁷Therefore speak to the house of Israel, man, and say to them, Thus said the LORD: In this, too, your fathers insulted Me in betraying Me. ²⁸And I brought them to the land that I had raised My hand to give them, and they saw every high hill and every thick-branched tree and offered their sacrifices there and put their vexing offerings there and set their fragrant odors there and poured out their libations there. ²⁹And I said to them, What is the high place to which you come? And its name has been called high place to this day. ³⁰Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus said the Master, the LORD: Are you defiled in the way of your fathers, and do you whore after their loathsome things? ³¹And in bringing up your gifts, in passing your children through the fire you are defiled for all your foul things to this day. And shall I respond to your inquiry, house of Israel? By My life, said the Master, the LORD, I will not respond to you. ³²And what occurs to your mind, it shall surely not come about, that you say, ‘We shall be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, to serve wood and stone.’ ³³By My life, said the Master, the LORD, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath, I will surely reign over you. ³⁴And I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched hand and with outpoured wrath. ³⁵And I will bring you to the desert of peoples and come to judgment with you there face-to-face. ³⁶As I came to judgment with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I come to judgment with you, said the Master, the LORD. ³⁷And I will make you pass under the rod and bring you into the bonds of the covenant. ³⁸And I will purge from you the rebels and those who trespass against Me. I will bring them out of the land of their sojourning, but to the soil of Israel they shall not come, and you shall know that I am the LORD. ³⁹And you, house of Israel, thus said the Master, the LORD: Each man go, worship his foul things, and afterward, if you do not heed Me. . . . But My holy name you shall no longer profane with your gifts and with your foul things. ⁴⁰But on My holy mountain, on the mountain of the height of Israel, there shall all the house of Israel worship Me, all of it in the land. There will I favor them, and there will I require your offerings and your choice donations with all your sacred things. ⁴¹By a fragrant odor I will show favor to you when I bring you out from the peoples, and I will gather you from the lands where you were scattered, and I will be hallowed through you before the eyes of the nations. ⁴²And you shall know that I am the LORD when I bring you to the soil of Israel, to the land for which I raised My hand to give it to your fathers. ⁴³And you shall recall there your ways and all your acts through which you were defiled, and you shall be disgusted with yourselves for all your evils that you did. ⁴⁴And you shall know that I am the LORD when I deal with you for the sake of My name, not according to your evil ways and your ruinous acts, O house of Israel,” said the Master, the LORD.