“As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore!

engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. He will bear the responsibility for his own death.

Its boughs were strong, fit for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds. It stood out because of its height and its many branches.

In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to seek the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.

I also gave them my Sabbaths as a reminder of our relationship, so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them.

I did this because they did not observe my regulations, they rejected my statutes, they desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.

It is sharpened for slaughter, it is polished to flash like lightning! “‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree!

“‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? declares the sovereign Lord.’

But those in Jerusalem will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, but the king of Babylon will accuse them of violations in order to seize them.

A total ruin I will make it! It will come to an end when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’

Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you.

Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because all of you have become slag, look out! – I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem.

Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious among women, and they executed judgments against her.

“This is what the sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup; you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal.

For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

Ezekiel will be an object lesson for you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’

On that day you will be able to speak again; you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

Men of Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army, men of war. They hung shield and helmet on you; they gave you your splendor.