On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.

He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne ¹  and the place for the soles of my feet, ²  where I will live among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel will no longer profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their spiritual prostitution or by the pillars of their kings set up when they die. ³ 

You must allot it as an inheritance among yourselves and for the foreigners who reside among you, who have fathered sons among you. You must treat them as native-born among the people of Israel; they will be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ¹ 

and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the descendants of Zadok, from the descendants of Levi, who may approach the Lord to minister to him.”

This will be for the priests who are set apart from the descendants of Zadok who kept my charge and did not go astray when the people of Israel strayed off, like the Levites did. ¹ 

“‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok ¹  who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign Lord.

I will hand it over, ¹  along with the Ammonites, ²  to the tribes ³  of the east, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations.

Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.” ¹ 

“‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword ¹  at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment.

They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it – they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever.

And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations ¹  where I will banish them.”

I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, ¹  and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

(though the father did not do any of them). ¹  He eats pagan sacrifices on the mountains, ²  defiles his neighbor’s wife,

When your people ¹  say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’

He took one from the royal family, ¹  made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. ²  He then took the leaders of the land

He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife,

does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked,

“‘But I said to their children ¹  in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, ²  nor defile yourselves with their idols.

I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon ¹  a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

The Dedanites ¹  were your clients. Many coastlands were your customers; they paid ²  you with ivory tusks and ebony.