The Prophet Ezekiel

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- Chapter 14 -

(Romans 14:13–23; 1 Corinthians 8:1–13)

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

Then Yahweh gave me this message:

“Son of man, these men worship idols, and they are allowing idols to induce them to sin. So should I answer them if they ask me for advice?

But say this to them: ’This is what Yahweh the Lord says: When any Israelite person wants to worship idols that will induce him to sin, and goes to a prophet to get advice, I, Yahweh, will give him the same answer that they deserve to receive because they worship idols.

I will do this so the Israelite people, who have abandoned me in order to worship their idols, will sincerely worship me again.’

Therefore, say to the Israelite people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Repent! Stop worshiping your idols, and stop all your other detestable behavior!’

When any of you Israelite people or any foreigner living among you turns away from me and starts worshiping idols 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.

I will show that I detest him, and cause what happens to him to be a warning to others, and cause him to be someone whom people despise. I will not allow him to associate with my people. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

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

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

Then the Israelite people will no longer abandon me, and they will no longer become unacceptable to me because of their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.”

Four Dire Judgments

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

“You human, if the people of some country sin against me by abandoning me, and I punish them by cutting off their food supply and by sending a famine so that people and animals die,

even 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.

Or, if I send wild animals throughout the country, and they attack and kill many of the people, so that travel in that country becomes very dangerous and no one travels through that country,

as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they could not save even their own sons or daughters from being killed. Only they three would be saved, and the country would become a wasteland. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

Or, if I bring enemy soldiers to kill the people and animals throughout that country with their swords,

as 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 daughters from being killed. They would save only themselves. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

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

as 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.

So 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.

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

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

(Romans 14:13–23; 1 Corinthians 8:1–13)

Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.

The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them?

Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him there according to the multitude of his idols,

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

“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Return, and turn yourselves from your idols! Turn away your faces from all your abominations.

“‘“For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me, I the LORD will answer him by myself.

I will set my face against that man and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

“‘“If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from among my people Israel.

They will bear their iniquity. The iniquity of the prophet will be even as the iniquity of him who seeks him,

that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God,” says the Lord GOD.’”

Four Dire Judgments

The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

“Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal—

though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.

“If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it and it is made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals—

though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They only would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off from it man and animal’—

though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only would be delivered themselves.

“Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal—

though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness.”

For the Lord GOD says: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil animals, and the pestilence—to cut off from it man and animal!

Yet, behold, there will be left a remnant in it that will be carried out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they will come out to you, and you will see their way and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.

They will comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; then you will know that I have not done all that I have done in it without cause,” says the Lord GOD.