Ezekiel 14

1 One day some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

And come in unto me do certain of the elders of Israel, and sit before me.

2 Then Yahweh gave me this message:

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

3 “You human, these men want to [IDM] worship idols, and they are allowing idols to induce them to sin [IDM]. So I will certainly [RHQ] answer them if they ask me for advice.

'Son of man, these men have caused their idols to go up on their heart, and the stumbling-block of their iniquity they have put over-against their faces; am I inquired of at all by them?

4 So say this to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: When any Israeli person wants to worship idols which will induce him to sin, and he goes to a [to get advice], I, Yahweh, will give him the answer that he deserves to receive because he worship idols.

'Therefore, speak with them, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Every one of the house of Israel who causeth his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath gone in unto the prophet — I Jehovah have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols,

5 [I will do that] in order that the Israeli people, who have abandoned me in order to worship their idols, will sincerely [IDM] worship me again.’

in order to catch the house of Israel by their heart, in that they have become estranged from off me by their idols — all of them.

6 Therefore, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: (Repent/Stop sinning)! Stop worshiping your idols, and stop all your [other] detestable behavior!’

'Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn ye back, yea, turn ye back from your idols, and from all your abominations turn back your faces,

7 When any of [you] Israeli people or any foreigner living among you turns away from me and starts worshiping idols [IDM] that induce him to sin, and then goes to a prophet to find out what I want him to do, I myself will answer him.

for every one of the house of Israel, and of the sojourners who doth sojourn in Israel, who is separated from after Me, and doth cause his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath come in unto the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, have answered him for Myself;

8 I will show that I detest him, and [what happens to] him to be a warning [to others], and cause him to be someone whom people despise. I will cause him to no longer be allowed to associate with my people. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

and I have set My face against that man, and made him for a sign, and for similes, and I have cut him off from the midst of My people, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

9 And if a prophet is deceived and gives a false prophecy, [even though] I [allowed him to] give that message, I will get rid of him and remove him from among my Israeli people.

'And the prophet, when he is enticed, and hath spoken a word — I, Jehovah, I have enticed that prophet, and have stretched out My hand against him, and have destroyed him from the midst of My people Israel.

10 Both the prophet and the one who asks him for advice will be guilty, [and I will punish both of them].

And they have borne their iniquity: as the iniquity of the inquirer, so is the iniquity of the prophet;

11 Then you Israeli people will no longer abandon me, and you will no longer become unacceptable to me because of your sins. You will be my people, and I will be your God. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, say.”

so that the house of Israel do not wander any more from after Me, nor are defiled any more with all their transgressions, and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

12 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

13 “You human, [the people of some] country sin against me by abandoning me, and I punish [IDM] them by cutting off their food supply and by sending a famine, with the result that people and animals die,

'Son of man, the land — when it sinneth against Me to commit a trespass, and I have stretched out My hand against it, and broken for it the staff of bread, and sent into it famine, and cut off from it man and beast —

14 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they would save only themselves because of their being righteous. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

and these three men have been in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job — they by their righteousness deliver their own soul — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

15 Or, if I send wild animals throughout the country, and they attack and [many of] [HYP] the people, with the result that travel in that country becomes very dangerous and no one travels through that country,

'If an evil beast I cause to pass through the land, and it hath bereaved, and it hath been a desolation, without any passing through because of the beast —

16 [as surely] as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they could not save [even their own] sons or [from being killed]. Only those [three] would (be saved/remain alive), and the country would become desolate. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

these three men in its midst: I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah — neither sons nor daughters do they deliver; they alone are delivered, and the land is a desolation.

17 Or, if I bring enemy soldiers [MTY] to attack that country, and they kill [MTY] people and animals throughout that country with their swords,

'Or — a sword I bring in against that land, and I have said: Sword, thou dost pass over through the land, and I have cut off from it man and beast —

18 as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they would not be able to save even their own sons or [from being killed]. They would save only themselves. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

and these three men in its midst: I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah — they deliver not sons and daughters, for they alone are delivered.

19 Or, if I send a plague into that land and cause the people and the animals to [from the plague] because I am very angry with those people,

'Or — pestilence I send unto that land, and I have poured out My fury against it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast —

20 [as surely] as I am alive, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country, they would not [be able to] save even their sons and daughters. They would save only themselves because of their being righteous. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

and Noah, Daniel, and Job, in its midst: I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah — neither son nor daughter do they deliver; they, by their righteousness, deliver their own soul.

21 So [now] this is what [I, ], Yahweh the Lord, say: I will cause four things to happen to [the people of] Jerusalem to punish them very severely. [Some] people and animals will be killed by swords, [some will die from] famines, [others will be attacked and killed by] wild animals, and [others will die in] plagues.

'For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Although My four sore judgments — sword, and famine, and wild beast, and pestilence — I have sent unto Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast,

22 But some [of your people] will remain alive, [both adults] and children. They will come to you, [Ezekiel, in Babylon]. And when you see [disgusting] behavior and actions, you will realize that I had good reasons for causing [the people of] Jerusalem to experience those many great disasters [DOU] that I have sent to them.

yet, lo, there hath been left in it an escape, who are brought forth, sons and daughters, lo, they are coming forth unto you, and ye have seen their way, and their doings, and have been comforted concerning the evil that I have brought in against Jerusalem, all that which I have brought in against it.

23 When you see those things that they do, you will know that there were very good reasons [LIT] for me to do everything that I caused to happen to them. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.”

And they have comforted you, for ye see their way and their doings, and ye have known that not for nought have I done all that which I have done in her — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'