Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing<n id="1" /> that you had reached the age for love.<n id="2" /> I spread my cloak<n id="3" /> over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, and you became mine.p>

Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent<n id="1" /> when I make atonement for all you have done,<n id="2" /> declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;There was another great eagle<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">with broad wings and thick plumage.p> <p class="poetry">Now this vine twisted its roots toward himp> <p class="poetry">and sent its branches toward himp> <p class="poetry">to be watered from the soil where it was planted.p>

<p class="poetry">I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,p> <p class="poetry">and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.p> <p class="poetry">Every bird will live under it;p> <p class="poetry">Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct,<n id="1" /> O house of Israel, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>. Repent<n id="2" /> and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity.<n id="3" />

Into his right hand<n id="1" /> comes the portent for Jerusalem &#8211; to set up battering rams, to give the signal<n id="2" /> for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry,<n id="3" /> to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

They will sing this lament over you:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;How you have perished &#8211; you have vanished<n id="2" /> from the seas,p> <p class="poetry">O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,p> <p class="poetry">she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">You were in Eden, the garden of God.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Every precious stone was your covering,p> <p class="poetry">the ruby, topaz, and emerald,p> <p class="poetry">the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,p> <p class="poetry">the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">your settings and mounts were made of gold.p> <p class="poetry">On the day you were created they were prepared.p>

I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.p>

&#8220;Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar<n id="1" /> of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre.<n id="2" /> Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

Therefore this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army&#8217;s wages.

<p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">I will destroy the idols,p> <p class="poetry">and put an end to the gods of Memphis.p> <p class="poetry">There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;p> <p class="poetry">so I will make the land of Egypt fearful.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The cedars in the garden of God could not eclipse it,p> <p class="poetry">nor could the fir trees<n id="1" /> match its boughs;p> <p class="poetry">the plane trees were as nothing compared to its branches;p> <p class="poetry">no tree in the garden of God could rival its beauty.p>

They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times,<n id="1" /> who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones,<n id="2" /> when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.p>

Now the hand of the <sc>Lordsc> had been on me<n id="1" /> the evening before the refugee reached me, but the <sc>Lordsc><n id="2" /> opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived<n id="3" /> in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak.<n id="4" />

&#8220;Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, &#8216;Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.&#8217;<n id="1" />

&#8220;Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds<n id="1" /> of Israel; prophesy, and say to them &#8211; to the shepherds: &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?

This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds;<n id="1" /> the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.p>

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day.<n id="1" />