EZEKIEL 20 [†] q In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of  r the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD,  s and sat before me. 2And the word of the LORD came to me: 3[^] t “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come?  u As I live, declares the Lord GOD,  v I will not be inquired of by you. 4 w Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them?  x Let them know the abominations of their fathers, 5[†]and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:  y On the day when I chose Israel,  z I swore [1] to the offspring of the house of Jacob,  a making myself known to them in the land of Egypt;  z I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. 6On that day I swore to them that  b I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land  b flowing with milk and honey,  c the most glorious of all lands. 7And I said to them,  d Cast away the detestable things  e your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with  f the idols of Egypt;  g I am the LORD your God. 8[^] h But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me.  i None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them  j and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9[†] k But I acted  l for the sake of my name,  m that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived,  n in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 o So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11[^] p I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules,  q by which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12Moreover, I gave them  r my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them,  s that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. 13 t But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness.  u They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live;  v and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

 t “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 14[†]But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations,  w in whose sight I had brought them out. 15Moreover,  x I swore to them in the wilderness  y that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land  z flowing with milk and honey,  z the most glorious of all lands, 16because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths;  a for their heart went after their idols. 17Nevertheless,  b my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or  c make a full end of them in the wilderness.

18[†]“And I said to  d their children in the wilderness, Do not walk  e in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules,  f nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 g I am the LORD your God;  h walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, 20and  i keep my Sabbaths holy that  j they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 21 k But the children  l rebelled against me.  m They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

 n “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22[†] o But I withheld my hand  p and acted for the sake of my name,  q that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 r Moreover,  s I swore to them in the wilderness  t that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, 24because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths,  u and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. 25 v Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, 26and I defiled them through  w their very gifts  w in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it  x that they might know that I am the LORD.

27[†]“Therefore,  y son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by  z dealing treacherously with me. 28For when I had brought them into the land that  a I swore to give them, then wherever they saw  b any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented  c the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29(I said to them,  d What is the high place to which you go? So its name is called Bamah [2] to this day.)

30“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD:  e Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go  f whoring after their detestable things? 31When you present your gifts and  g offer up your children in fire, [3] you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And  h shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel?  i As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

32[†] j “What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought,  k ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries,  l and worship wood and stone.’

33[†] i “As I live, declares the Lord GOD,  m surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and  n with wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34 o I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 p And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples,  q and there I will enter into judgment with you  r face to face. 36 s As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. 37I will make you  t pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 u I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me.  v I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn,  w but they shall not enter the land of Israel.  x Then you will know that I am the LORD.

39[†]“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD:  y Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me;  z but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

40[†] a “For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there  b all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land.  c There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when  d I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And  e I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 f And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that  g I swore to give to your fathers. 43 h And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves,  h and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44And you shall know that I am the LORD,  i when I deal with you for my name’s sake,  j not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

45[†] [4] And the word of the LORD came to me: 46 k “Son of man,  l set your face toward the southland; [5]  m preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. 47Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold,  n I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every  o green tree in you and every  o dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and  p all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. 48 q All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” 49Then I said,  r “Ah, Lord GOD! They are saying of me,  s ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”