<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Say to them: This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Will it prosper?p> <p class="poetry">Will he not rip out its rootsp> <p class="poetry">and cause its fruit to rot<n id="1" /> and wither?p> <p class="poetry">All its foliage<n id="2" /> will wither.p> <p class="poetry">No strong arm or large armyp> <p class="poetry">will be needed to pull it out by its roots.<n id="3" />p>

take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder<n id="1" /> to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">By the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness of your trade,p> <p class="poetry">you desecrated your sanctuaries.p> <p class="poetry">So I drew fire out from within you;p> <p class="poetry">it consumed you,p> <p class="poetry">and I turned you to ashes on the earthp> <p class="poetry">before the eyes of all who saw you.p>

So prophesy and say: &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Surely because they have made you desolate and crushed you from all directions, so that you have become the property of the rest of the nations, and have become the subject of gossip<n id="1" /> and slander among the people,

Then one of the cherubim<n id="1" /> stretched out his hand<n id="2" /> toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left.

before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram<n id="1" /> and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines &#8211; those all around you who despise you.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.

<p class="poetry">while seeing false visions for youp> <p class="poetry">and reading lying omens for you<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">to place that sword<n id="2" /> on the necks of the profane wicked,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">whose day has come,p> <p class="poetry">the time of final punishment.p>

&#8220;Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace;<n id="1" /> they are the worthless slag of silver.

<p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Therefore this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">Woe to the city of bloodshed,p> <p class="poetry">the pot whose rot<n id="1" /> is in it,p> <p class="poetry">whose rot has not been removed<n id="2" /> from it!p> <p class="poetry">Empty it piece by piece.p> <p class="poetry">No lot has fallen on it.<n id="3" />p>

As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you &#8211; you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom &#8211; all of it! Then they will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The hand<n id="1" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the <sc>Lordsc> and placed<n id="2" /> me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones.

They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed.

Every living creature which swarms where the river<n id="1" /> flows will live; there will be many fish, for these waters flow there. It will become fresh<n id="2" /> and everything will live where the river flows.

&#8220;Son of man, turn toward<n id="1" /> the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them:

Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem &#8211; for everything I brought on it.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband!

<p class="bodytext">So I said to them: &#8220;The word of the <sc>Lordsc> came to me:

&#8220;Son of man, turn toward<n id="1" /> the Ammonites<n id="2" /> and prophesy against them.