Ezekiel 14

1 Then came there unto me men, of the elders of Israel, —and sat before me—

Some elders of Israel arrived and sat down with me.

2 And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying:

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

3 Son of man These men have brought up their manufactured gods upon their hear, And their stumbling-block of iniquity, have they set straight before their face, —Shall I be at all enquired of by them?

“Son of man, these men are worshiping idols in their minds even though they know this will lead them to sin. Why should I respond to their requests?

4 Therefore speak unto them and say unto them, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Any man whatsoever of the house of Israel Who shall bring up his manufactured gods upon his heart, And set, his stumbling-block of iniquity, straight before his face, And then come in unto the prophet, I Yahweh, have myself answered him thereby. By the multitude of his manufactured gods:

So tell them that this is what the Lord God says: When the people of Israel worship idols in their minds that will lead them to sin, and then come to consult the prophet, I the Lord will give them an answer appropriate to their many idols.

5 To the end the house of Israel may be taken by their own hearts, —in that they have estranged themselves from me, through their manufactured gods—all of them!

Like this I might have the people of Israel decide to recommit themselves to me. Right now, because of their idols, all of them treat me as their enemy.

6 Therefore, say thou unto the house of Israel, Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, Turn ye—and make good your return—from your manufactured gods; And, from all your abominations, make good the turning away of your faces.

So tell the people of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: Repent! Give up worshiping your idols Stop all your disgusting practices.

7 For what man soever of the house of Israel Or of the sojourners who sojourn in Israel, Who shall estrange himself from following me And who shall bring up his manufactured gods, on his heart, And whose stumbling-block of iniquity, he shall set straight before his face, And then come in unto the prophet, to enquire by him of me, I Yahweh, will myself answer him, on my own account;

When the people of Israel or foreigners living with them worship idols in their minds that will lead them to sin and then come to consult the prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself.

8 And will set my face against that man And will make of him a sign and a proverb, And will cut him off out of the midst of my people: So shall ye know that, I, am Yahweh.

I will oppose anyone who does this and make any example of them that others will talk about. I will remove them from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

9 Yea the prophet himself when he suffereth himself to be deceived, and speaketh a word, I Yahweh, have suffered that prophet to be deceived, Then will I stretch forth my hand against him, and destroy him out of the midst of my people. Israel:

But if the prophet is deceived into giving a message, it was I the Lord who deceived him to do this. I will still reach out and destroy that prophet from my people Israel.

10 So shall they bear their punishment, As the punishment of him that enquireth, So shall the punishment of the prophet be:

They will be responsible for the punishment they receive, as will those who believe in these prophets will receive the same punishment.

11 That the house of Israel may no more go astray from following me, And no more defile themselves by any of their transgressions, — But may become my people, and I, may become their God, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

This is so that the people of Israel won't abandon me anymore and won't make themselves unclean with all their sins. Then they will be my people and I will be their God, declares the Lord God.”

12 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

A message from the Lord came to me again, saying,

13 Son of man, When a land, shall sin against me by committing treachery, and I shall stretch out my hand against it, And break for it the staff of bread, And send thereon famine, And cut off therefrom man and beast,

“Son of man, if a people in a country sin against me by being unfaithful to me, then I will act against them by cutting off their food supply, so they experience famine, with no food for people or animals.

14 Then should these three men be in the midst thereof, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they by their righteousness should deliver their own lives— Declareth My Lord, Yahweh.

Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job, these three men, were present their good lives would only save themselves, declares the Lord God.

15 If a mischievous wild beast, I suffer to pass through the land, and that beast bereave it, so that it become too desolate for any man to pass through, by reason of the wild beast,

I could send wild animals rampaging through the country, so they would leave it uninhabited and desolate, a place no one would travel through for fear of such animals.

16 [Were] these three men in the midst thereof, As I live, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Surely neither sons nor daughters, should they deliver, They alone should be delivered, But the land, should become a desolation.

As I live, declares the Lord God, even if these three men were present, they couldn't save their own sons or daughters. They would only save themselves, but the land would be left desolate.

17 Or, a sword, I should bring upon that land, and should say. O sword! thou shalt go through the land, and so I should cut off therefrom, man and beast,

I could bring war to that country and say, ‘Have a sword cut through it,’ so that I destroy both people and animals.

18 Were these three men in the midst thereof, As I live! Saith My Lord Yahweh, They should deliver neither sons nor daughters, — For they alone, should be delivered.

As I live, declares the Lord God, even if these three men were present, they couldn't save their own sons or daughters. They would only save themselves.

19 Or pestilence, I, should send into that land, —and should pour out mine indignation thereon in blood, to cut off therefrom man and beast

I could send a disease on that country and because of my anger I would kill many, both people and animals.

20 Were Noah, Daniel and Job in the midst thereof, As I live, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Surely neither son nor daughter, should they deliver, They, by their righteousness should deliver only their own lives.

As I live, declares the Lord God, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were present, they couldn't save their sons or daughters. Their good lives would only save themselves.

21 For thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, How much less [should they avail] when my four calamitous judgments, sword and famine and mischievous wild beast and pestilence I have sent against Jerusalem, —to cut off therefrom man and beast?

This is what the Lord God says: It will be so much worse when I send my four severe judgments against Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease, so that both people and animals are killed!

22 Yet lo! there hath been left therein a remnant of fugitives to be brought forth —sons and daughters— There they are! coming forth unto you, And so ye shall see their way, and their doings, and be consoled over the calamity which I have brought in upon Jerusalem even all that I have brought in upon her.

Even so a few of them will survive, some sons and daughters who will be taken captive. They will be brought to you in Babylon, and when you realize what they did and how they acted, you will understand why I had to bring such a disaster down on Jerusalem—everything I did to it.

23 Yea they shall console you, when ye see their way and their doings, — So shall ye know that not without cause, have I done, anything that I have done with her, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

Realizing what they did and how they acted will help you to see that I had good reasons to do everything I did to Jerusalem, declares the Lord God.”