Open English Translation EZE Chapter 14

14 One day some of the Israeli elders came and sat down to talk, 2 and Yahweh gave me this message: 3 “Humanity’s child, these men have taken their idols to be their god and their choice to disobey makes it very difficult for them to relate to me. Should I even let them ask me anything?

4 Therefore tell them that the master Yahweh says this: ‘Every Israeli man who makes his idols his priority, or who allows his disobedience to separate him from me, and who then comes to a prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him according to how many idols he has. 5 I’ll do that so that I can reclaim the Israeli people whose values are now far from mine due to their idols.

6 Therefore tell the Israel people that the master Yahweh says this: ‘Change your behaviour and turn away from your idols. Make a decision to stop disobeying me by doing those evil things.

7 Any Israeli person and any foreigner residing in Yisrael who deserts me, who takes idols to be their god and allows their disobedience to separate them from me, and who then comes to a prophet to request my guidance, I, Yahweh, will answer that person myself. 8 I’ll clearly show my disapproval and make that person into a sign for others and into a talking point and they’ll be isolated from the rest of my people, and you all will know that I am Yahweh.

9 If a prophet is deceived and speaks a message, then I, Yahweh, will deceive that prophet. I’ll take action against him and destroy him to remove him from among the Israeli people. 10 Both the prophet and the one who asks him for advice will be guilty, and I will punish both of them for their disobedience. 11 Because of that, the Israeli people will no longer wander away from following me, nor defile themselves any longer through all their disobedience. They’ll be my people, and I’ll be their God. That is the master Yahweh’s declaration.’ ”

12 Then Yahweh gave me another message: 13 “Humanity’s child, when a country sins against me by choosing to worship other gods, so that I decide to take action against it, then I’ll break the cycle of food production and send a famine out over it. I’ll punish both people and animals from that land 14 in such a way that even if Noah, Daniel, and Yob (Job) lived in that place, they could only rescue their own lives by their being blameless in my sight. That is the master Yahweh’s declaration.

15 If I send vicious wild animals through the country and make it barren so that it becomes a wasteland where no one can may pass through because of those animals, 16 then even if those same three men were in it, as I live declares the master Yahweh, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their own children—only their own lives would be saved, but the land itself would become a wasteland.

17 Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Sword, go through the land and eliminate both the people and domestic animals from it’, 18 then even if those three men were in it, as I live, declares the master Yahweh, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their own sons or daughters—only their own lives would be saved.

19 Or if I send a plague against that country and pour out my rage against it through bloodshed, in order to eliminate both the people and the domestic animals, 20 as surely as I live, even if Noah, Daniel and Yob (Job) were in that country, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their sons and daughters. They would save only themselves because of their being blameless in my sight. That is the master Yahweh’s declaration.

21 The master Yahweh says this: ‘I will certainly make things worse by sending my four punishments against Yerushalem to eliminate both the people and the domestic animals from it: famine, sword, wild animals, and plague.[ref] 22 But listen! Despite that, a remnant will be left in the city—survivors who will go out with sons and daughters. Yes, they’ll go out to you, and you’ll see their ways and actions and understand why they deserved the punishment that I sent to Yerushalem, and about everything else that I have sent against the country. 23 The survivors will relieve you all when you see their ways and their actions, because you’ll know that all those things that I’ve done against her, I didn’t do them without good reason. That is the master Yahweh’s declaration.”