It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations.

But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

As for my food that I gave you – the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you – you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.

Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.

“I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ¹ 

“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ¹  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:

On that day you will be able to speak again; ¹  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.”

Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, ¹  pray to ²  your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess ³  the land?

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness ¹  you have ruled over them.

You will eat the flesh of warriors ¹  and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan.

I will shock many peoples with you, and their kings will shiver with horror because of you. When I brandish my sword before them, every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.

“Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ¹  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ²  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ³  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

“Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.

“And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times! It is a sword for slaughter, a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.

“‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple.

and one sheep from each flock of two hundred, from the watered places of Israel, for a grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offering, to make atonement for them, declares the sovereign Lord.

and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. ¹  That man ²  is righteous; he will certainly live, ³  declares the sovereign Lord.

“But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father’s example. ¹ 

I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them – with judgment!

On that day I will make Israel powerful, ¹  and I will give you the right to be heard ²  among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”