¹ And there came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

² And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

³ Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

⁴ Therefore speak to them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I Jehovah will answer him according to this, according to the multitude of his idols:

⁵ that I may take the house of Israel by their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

⁶ Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷ For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire of me by him, I Jehovah will answer him by myself;

⁸ and I will set my face against that man, and will make him desolate, [so that he shall be] for a sign and for proverbs, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

⁹ And if the prophet be enticed and shall speak a word, I Jehovah have enticed that prophet; and I will stretch out my hand against him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of the inquirer;

¹¹ that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither make themselves any more unclean with all their transgressions; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹² And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹³ Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by working unfaithfulness, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it;

¹⁴ though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, should be in it, they should deliver [but] their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵ If I cause evil beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave it, and it become a desolation, so that no one passeth through because of the beasts;

¹⁶ -- though these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters: they only should be delivered, and the land should be a desolation.

¹⁷ Or [if] I bring the sword upon that land, and say, sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,

¹⁸ and these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only themselves should be delivered.

¹⁹ Or [if] I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast,

²⁰ and Noah, Daniel, and Job should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither son nor daughter: they should [but] deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

²² But behold, there shall be left in it those that escape, who shall be brought out of [it], sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, as to all that I have brought upon it.

²³ And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵ But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶ They moved him to jealousy with strange [gods]. They provoked him to anger with abominations.

¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, [which were] no God, to gods that they didn't know, to new [gods] that came up of late, which your fathers didn't dread.

¹⁸ Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

¹⁹ Yahweh saw [it], and abhorred [them], because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

²⁰ He said, "I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

²¹ They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

²² For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

²³ "I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

²⁴ [They shall be] wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.

²⁵ Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, The nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

²⁶ I said, I would scatter them afar. I would make the memory of them to cease from among men;

²⁷ were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, 'Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.'"

²⁸ For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

²⁹ Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

³⁰ How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?

³¹ For their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

³² For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter.

³³ Their wine is the poison of serpents, The cruel venom of asps.

³⁴ "Isn't this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

³⁵ Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste."

³⁶ For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that [their] power is gone, There is none [remaining], shut up or left at large.

³⁷ He will say, "Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge;

³⁸ Which ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.

³⁹ "See now that I, even I, am he, There is no god with me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

⁴⁰ For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever,

⁴¹ if I whet my glittering sword, My hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my adversaries, and will recompense those who hate me.

⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy."

⁴³ Rejoice, you nations, [with] his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will make expiation for his land, for his people.