ERV -Ezekiel Chapter 14 to 16

14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me. They sat down to talk with me. ²The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ³“Son of man,* these men came to talk to you. {They wanted you to ask me for advice.} But these men still have their filthy idols. They kept the things that made them sin. They still worship those statues. So why do they come to me for advice? Should I answer their questions? No! ⁴But I will give them an answer. {I will punish them!} You must tell those people these things. ‘The Lord my Master says: If any Israelite comes to a prophet and asks me for advice, then {the prophet won’t give that person an answer}. I myself will answer that person’s question. I will answer him even if he still has his filthy idols, even if he kept the things that made him sin, and even if he still worships those statues. I will speak to him in spite of all his filthy idols. ⁵Why? Because I want to touch their heart. I want to show them I love them, even though they left me for their filthy idols.’ ⁶“So tell the family of Israel these things. Tell them, ‘The Lord my Master says: Come back {to me} and leave your filthy idols. Turn away from those terrible false gods. ⁷If any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel comes to me for advice, I will give him an answer. I will answer him even if he still has his filthy idols and even if he kept the things that made him sin and even if he worships those statues. And this is the answer I will give him: ⁸I will turn against that person. I will destroy him. He will be an example to other people. People will laugh at him. I will remove him from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord! ⁹And if a prophet is foolish enough to give his own answer, then I will show him how foolish he is! I will use my power against him. I will destroy him and remove him from among my people, Israel. ¹⁰So, both the person that came for advice and the prophet that gave an answer will get the same punishment. ¹¹Why? So those prophets will stop leading my people away from me. And so my people will stop becoming filthy with their sins. Then they will be my special people. And I will be their God.’” The Lord my Master said those things. ¹²Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ¹³“Son of man,* I will punish any nation that leaves me and sins against me. I will stop their food supply. I might cause a time of hunger and remove the people and animals from that country. ¹⁴{I would punish that country} even if Noah, Daniel, and Job* lived there. Those men could save their own lives by their goodness, {but they could not save the whole country}.” The Lord my Master said these things. ¹⁵{God said,} “Or, I might send wild animals through that country. And those animals might kill all the people. No person would travel through that country because of the wild animals. ¹⁶If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, {then I would save those three good men}. Those three men could save their own lives. But by my life I promise, they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters! That evil country would be destroyed!” The Lord my Master said these things. ¹⁷{God said,} “Or, I might send an enemy army to fight against that country. Those soldiers would destroy that country—I would remove all the people and animals from that country. ¹⁸If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, {then I would save those three good men}. Those three men could save their own lives. But by my life I promise, they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters! That evil country would be destroyed!” The Lord my Master said these things. ¹⁹{God said,} “Or, I might send a disease against that country. I will pour my anger down on those people. I will remove all the people and animals from that country. ²⁰If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, {then I would save those three men} because they are good men. Those three men could save their own lives. But by my life I promise, they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters!” The Lord my Master said these things. ²¹Then the Lord my Master said, “So think how bad it will be for Jerusalem: I will send all four of those punishments against that city! I will send enemy soldiers, hunger, disease, and wild animals against that city. I will remove all the people and animals from that country! ²²Some of the people will escape from that country. They will bring their sons and daughters and come to you for help. Then you will see how bad those people really are. And you will feel better about all the troubles that I will bring to Jerusalem. ²³You will see the way they live and the bad things they do. And then you will know that I had a good reason for punishing those people.” The Lord my Master said these things.

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. Noah, Daniel, and Job Three men from ancient times. They were famous for being very good and wise men. Stories about Noah and Job are in the Bible. Stories about Daniel are in writings from Ras Shamra.

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²“Son of man,* are the pieces of wood from a grapevine* any better than the little branches cut from trees in the forest? No! ³Can you use that wood from a grapevine to make anything? No! Can you use that wood to make pegs to hang dishes on? No! ⁴People only throw that wood into the fire. Some sticks begin to burn on the ends, the middles turn black from the fire, {but the sticks don’t burn completely}. Can you make anything from that burnt stick? ⁵If you can’t make anything from that wood before it is burned, then you surely can’t make anything from that wood after it is burned! ⁶So the pieces of wood from a grapevine are just like pieces of wood from trees in the forest. People throw those pieces of wood into the fire. And the fire burns them. In the same way, I will throw the people living in Jerusalem into the fire!” The Lord my Master said these things. ⁷“I will punish those people. But some of those people will be like the sticks that don’t burn completely—they will be punished, but they won’t be destroyed completely. You will see that I punished these people, and you will know that I am the Lord! ⁸I will destroy that country because the people left me {to worship false gods}.” The Lord my Master said those things.

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. grapevine Many times the prophets said Israel was God’s vineyard or grapevine.

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²“Son of man,* tell the people of Jerusalem about the terrible things they have done. ³You must say, ‘The Lord my Master says these things to Jerusalem: Look at your history. You were born in Canaan. Your father was an Amorite. Your mother was a Hittite. ⁴{Jerusalem,} on the day you were born, there was no one to cut your naval cord. No one put salt on you and washed you to make you clean. No one wrapped you in cloth. ⁵{Jerusalem, you were all alone.} No one felt sorry for you or took care of you. {Jerusalem,} on the day you were born, your parents threw you out in the field. You were still covered with the blood and afterbirth. ⁶“‘Then I (God) passed by. I saw you lying there, kicking in the blood. You were covered with blood but I said, “Please live!” Yes, you were covered with blood but I said, “Please live!” ⁷I helped you grow like a plant in the field. You grew and grew. You became a young woman: your periods began, your breasts grew, your hair began to grow. But you were still bare and naked. ⁸I looked you over. I saw you were ready for love. So I spread my clothes over you* and covered your nakedness. I promised to marry you. I made the agreement* with you. And you became mine.’” The Lord my Master said these things. ⁹“‘I washed you in water. I washed away your blood. And I rubbed oil on your skin. ¹⁰* I gave you a nice dress and soft leather shoes. I gave you a linen headband and a silk scarf. ¹¹Then I gave you some jewelry. I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck. ¹²I gave you a nose ring, some earrings, and a beautiful crown to wear. ¹³You were beautiful in your silver and gold jewelry, and your linen, silk, and embroidered material. You ate the best foods. You were very, very beautiful. And you became the queen! ¹⁴You became famous for your beauty. And all because I made you so lovely!’” The Lord my Master said these things. ¹⁵{God said,} “But you began to trust in your beauty. You used the good name you had and became unfaithful to me. You acted like a prostitute* with every man that passed by. You gave yourself to them all! ¹⁶You took your beautiful clothes and used them to decorate your places of worship. And you acted like a prostitute in those places. You gave yourself to every man that came by! ¹⁷Then you took your beautiful jewelry that I gave you. And you used that gold and silver to make statues of men. And you had sex with them too! ¹⁸Then you took the beautiful cloth and made clothes for those statues. You took the perfume and incense I gave you, and you put it in front of those idols. ¹⁹I gave you bread, honey, and oil. But you gave that food to your idols. You offered them as a sweet smell to please your false gods. You acted like a prostitute with those false gods!” The Lord my Master said these things. ²⁰{God said,} “You and I had children together. But you took our children. You killed them and gave them to those false gods! But that is only some of the bad things you did when you cheated on me and went to those false gods. ²¹You slaughtered* my sons and then passed them {through the fire} to those false gods. ²²You left me and did all those terrible things. And you never remembered the time when you were young. You did not remember that you were naked and kicking in blood {when I found you}. ²³“After all those bad things, … Oh Jerusalem, it will be very bad for you!” The Lord my Master said all these things. ²⁴“After all those things you made that mound {for worshiping that false god}. You built those places for worshiping false gods on every street corner. ²⁵You built your mounds at the head of every road. Then you degraded your beauty. You used it to catch every man that walked by. You raised your skirt so they could see your legs, and then you were like a prostitute* with those men. ²⁶Then you went to Egypt, your neighbor with the big sex organ. You had sex with him many times to make me angry. ²⁷So I punished you! I took away part of your allowance (land). I let your enemies, the daughters (cities) of the Philistines do what they wanted to you. Even they were shocked at the bad things you did. ²⁸Then you went to have sex with Assyria.* You could not get enough. You were never satisfied. ²⁹So you turned to Canaan, and then to Babylonia. And still you were not satisfied. ³⁰You are so weak. You let all those men (countries) cause you to sin. You acted just like a domineering prostitute.*” The Lord my Master said those things. ³¹{God said,} “But you were not exactly like a prostitute.* You built your mounds at the head of every road and you built your places of worship at every street corner. You had sex with all those men. But you did not ask them to pay you like a prostitute does. ³²You adulterous woman. You prefer having sex with strangers rather than your own husband. ³³Most prostitutes force men to pay them for sex. But you gave money to your many lovers. You paid all the men around to come in to have sex with you. ³⁴You are just the opposite of most prostitutes. Most prostitutes force men to pay them. But you pay the men to have sex with you.” ³⁵Prostitute,* listen to the message from the Lord. ³⁶The Lord my Master says these things: “You have spent your money* and let your lovers and filthy gods see your naked body and have sex with you. You have killed your children and poured out their blood. This was your gift to those false gods. ³⁷So I am bringing all of your lovers together. I will bring all the men you loved and all the men you hated. I will bring them all together and let them see you naked.* They will see you completely naked. ³⁸Then I will punish you. I will punish you as a murderer and a woman that did the sin of adultery. You will be punished as if by an angry and jealous husband. ³⁹I will let those lovers have you. They will destroy your mounds. They will burn your places of worship. They will tear off your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry. They will leave you bare and naked {like you were when I found you}. ⁴⁰They will bring a crowd of people and throw rocks at you to kill you. Then they will cut you in pieces with their swords. ⁴¹They will burn your house (temple). They will punish you so all the other women can see. I will stop you from living like a prostitute. I will stop you from paying money to your lovers. ⁴²Then I will stop being angry and jealous. I will calm down. I won’t be angry any more. ⁴³Why will all these things happen? Because you did not remember what happened when you were young. You did all those bad things and made me angry. So I had to punish you for doing those bad things. But you planned even more terrible things.” The Lord my Master said those things. ⁴⁴“All the people that talk about you will now have one more thing to say. They will say, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵You are your mother’s daughter. You don’t care about your husband or your children. You are just like your sister. Both of you hated your husband and your children. {You are just like your parents.} Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite. ⁴⁶Your older sister was Samaria. She lived to the north of you with her daughters (towns). And your younger sister was Sodom.* She lived to the south of you with her daughters (towns). ⁴⁷You did all the terrible things they did. But you also did things that were even worse! ⁴⁸I am the Lord and Master. I am alive. And by my life I promise, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as many bad things as you and your daughters.” ⁴⁹{God said,} “Your sister Sodom and her daughters were proud, they had too much to eat, and too much time on their hands. And they did not help poor, helpless people. ⁵⁰Sodom and her daughters became too proud and began to do terrible things in front of me. And when I saw them doing those things, I punished them.” ⁵¹{God said,} “And Samaria did only half as many bad things as you did. You did many more terrible things than Samaria! You have done so many more terrible things than your sisters. Sodom and Samaria seem good compared to you. ⁵²So you must bear your shame. You have made your sisters look good compared to you. You have done terrible things, so you should be ashamed.” ⁵³{God said,} “I destroyed Sodom and the towns around it. And I destroyed Samaria around it. And {Jerusalem,} I will destroy you. But I will build those cities again. And {Jerusalem,} I will build you again too. ⁵⁴I will comfort you. Then you will remember the terrible things you did, and you will be ashamed. ⁵⁵So you and your sisters will be built again. Sodom and the towns around her, Samaria and the towns around her, and you and the towns around you will all be built again.” ⁵⁶{God said,} “In the past, you were proud and made fun of your sister Sodom. But you won’t do that again. ⁵⁷You did that before you were punished, before your neighbors started making fun of you. The daughters (towns) of Edom* and Philistia are making fun of you now. ⁵⁸Now you must suffer for the terrible things you did.” The Lord said these things. ⁵⁹The Lord my Master said these things. “I will treat you like you treated me! You broke your marriage promise. You did not respect our Agreement. ⁶⁰But I will remember the agreement we made when you were young. I made an agreement with you that will continue forever! ⁶¹I will bring your sisters to you, and I will make them your daughters. That was not in our agreement, but I will do that for you. Then you will remember the terrible things you did, and you will be ashamed. ⁶²So I will make my agreement with you. And you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶³{I will be good to you} so you will remember me, and you will be so ashamed of the bad things you did that you will not be able to say anything. But I will make you pure, and you will never be ashamed again!” The Lord my Master said those things.

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. spread my clothes over you This showed that he was agreeing to protect her and care for her. See Ruth 3:1–15. agreement Here this means the marriage agreement. But it also refers to the Agreement God made with the people of Israel. Verses 10–13 All the materials in this list are the things used in building the Holy Tent. See Ex. 25–40. prostitute A woman paid by men for sexual sin. Sometimes this also means a person that is not faithful to God and stops following him. slaughtered Usually, this word means to kill an animal and cut it into pieces for meat. But it often means to kill people like they are animals. Assyria This was a powerful nation northeast of Israel. spent your money Literally, “poured out your copper.” This might also mean, “you have done the things that stain you with sin.” let them see you naked The Hebrew words are like the words meaning, “to be carried away as a prisoner to a foreign country.” Samaria ... Sodom Ezekiel is saying that the people in Judah are just as evil as the people that lived in Samaria and Sodom—and those people were so evil that God completely destroyed those cities. Edom Or, “Aram.”