When you present your sacrifices<n id="1" /> &#8211; when you make your sons pass through the fire &#8211; you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me,<n id="2" /> O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, I will not allow you to seek me!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Cry out and moan, son of man,p> <p class="poetry">for it is wielded against my people;p> <p class="poetry">against all the princes of Israel.p> <p class="poetry">They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.p> <p class="poetry">Therefore, strike your thigh.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;And you, son of man, prophesy,p> <p class="poetry">and clap your hands together.p> <p class="poetry">Let the sword strike twice, even three times!p> <p class="poetry">It is a sword for slaughter,p> <p class="poetry">a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.p>

&#8220;You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon&#8217;s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

I will direct<n id="1" /> my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears,<n id="2" /> and your survivors will die<n id="3" /> by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.

&#8220;Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege<n id="1" /> to Jerusalem<n id="2" /> this very day.

Say to the house of Israel, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary &#8211; the source of your confident pride,<n id="1" /> the object in which your eyes delight,<n id="2" /> and your life&#8217;s passion.<n id="3" /> Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die<n id="4" /> by the sword.

Say to the Ammonites, &#8216;Hear the word of the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>: This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: You said &#8220;Aha!&#8221; about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile.

&#8220;Son of man, say to the prince<n id="1" /> of Tyre, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Your heart is proud<n id="2" /> and you said, &#8220;I am a god;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas&#8221; &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">yet you are a man and not a god,p> <p class="poetry">though you think you are godlike.<n id="4" />p>

&#8220;Son of man, sing<n id="1" /> a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;You were the sealer<n id="2" /> of perfection,p> <p class="poetry">full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.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.

&#8220;Son of man, I have broken the arm<n id="1" /> of Pharaoh king of Egypt.<n id="2" /> Look, it has not been bandaged for healing or set with a dressing so that it might become strong enough to grasp a sword.

&#8220;Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;You were like a lion<n id="1" /> among the nations,p> <p class="poetry">but you are a monster in the seas;p> <p class="poetry">you thrash about in your streams,p> <p class="poetry">stir up the water with your feet,p> <p class="poetry">and muddy your<n id="2" /> streams.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, &#8216;This is what you have said: &#8220;Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us,<n id="1" /> and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?&#8221;&#8217;

&#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?

<p class="bodytext">He said to me, &#8220;Prophesy to the breath,<n id="1" /> &#8211; prophesy, son of man &#8211; and say to the breath: &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.&#8217;&#8221;

Then tell them, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land.

The man said to me, &#8220;Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and pay attention<n id="1" /> to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you.<n id="2" /> Tell the house of Israel everything you see.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then he said to me: &#8220;Son of man, this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: These are the statutes of the altar: On the day it is built to offer up burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it,<n id="1" />