Ezekiel condemned the idol worshipers

1One day some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

2Then Yahweh gave me this message:

3“You human, these men want to [IDM] worship idols, and they are allowing idols to induce them to sin [IDM]. So I will certainly [RHQ] answer them if they ask me for advice.

4So say this to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: When any Israeli person wants to worship idols which will induce him to sin, and he goes to a prophetto get advice, I, Yahweh, will give him the answer that he deserves to receive because he worship idols.

5I will do that in order that the Israeli people, who have abandoned me in order to worship their idols, will sincerely [IDM] worship me again.’

6Therefore, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: ◄Repent/Stop sinning►! Stop worshiping your idols, and stop all your other detestable behavior!’

7When any of you Israeli people or any foreigner living among you turns away from me and starts worshiping idols [IDM] that induce him to sin, and then goes to a prophet to find out what I want him to do, I myself will answer him.

8I will show that I detest him, and causewhat happens to him to be a warning to others, and cause him to be someone whom people despise. I will cause him to no longer be allowed to associate with my people. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

9And if a prophet is deceived and gives a false prophecy, even though I haveallowed him to give that message, I will get rid of him and remove him from among my Israeli people.

10Both the prophet and the one who asks him for advice will be guilty, and I will punish both of them.

11Then you Israeli people will no longer abandon me, and you will no longer become unacceptable to me because of your sins. You will be my people, and I will be your God. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.”

Yahweh will punish Jerusalem

12Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

13“You human, ifthe people of some country sin against me by abandoning me, and I punish [IDM] them by cutting off their food supply and by sending a famine, with the result that people and animals die,

14even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they would save only themselves because of their being righteous. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

15Or, if I send wild animals throughout the country, and they attack and killmany of [HYP] the people, with the result that travel in that country becomes very dangerous and no one travels through that country,

16as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they could not save even their own sons or daughtersfrom being killed. Only those three would ◄be saved/remain alive►, and the country would become desolate. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

17Or, if I bring enemy soldiers [MTY] to attack that country, and they kill [MTY] people and animals throughout that country with their swords,

18as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they would not be able to save even their own sons or daughtersfrom being killed. They would save only themselves. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

19Or, if I send a plague into that land and cause the people and the animals to diefrom the plague because I am very angry with those people,

20as surely as I am alive, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country, they would not be able to save even their sons and daughters. They would save only themselves because of their being righteous. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

21So now this is what I,, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will cause four things to happen to the people of Jerusalem to punish them very severely. Some people and animals will be killed by swords, some will die from famines, others will be attacked and killed by wild animals, and others will die in plagues.

22But some of your people will remain alive, both adults and children. They will come to you, Ezekiel, in Babylon. And when you see theirdisgusting behavior and actions, you will realize that I had good reasons for causing the people of Jerusalem to experience those many great disasters [DOU] that I have sent to them.

23When you see those things that they do, you will know that there were very good reasons [LIT] for me to do everything that I caused to happen to them. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.”