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God's Dealings with Israel Rehearsed

¹ In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month after the beginning of the exile in Babylon, certain of the ^(C1)elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD and sat down before me. ^(VR1)2 Then came the word of the LORD to me, saying,³ "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live," says the Lord GOD, "^(C1)I will not be inquired of by you."'⁴ "Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then ^(C1)make them know accurately and understand fully the repulsive acts of their fathers; ^(VR1)5 and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day when I ^(C1)chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ^(C2)I am the LORD your God,⁶ on that day I swore to them ^(C1)to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, plentiful and ^(F1)(C2)flowing with milk and honey, a land which is an ornament and a ^(C3)glory to all lands.⁷ "Then I said to them, 'Let every man ^(C1)throw away the detestable things on which he feasts his eyes, and ^(C2)do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; ^(C3)I am the LORD your God.'

⁸ "But they ^(C1)rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not throw away the detestable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they ^(F1)give up the ^(C2)idols of Egypt. "Then I decided to ^(C3)pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the land of Egypt.⁹ "But I acted ^(C1)for My Name's sake, that it would ^(C2)not be profaned in the sight of the pagan nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.¹⁰ "So I made them leave the land of Egypt and brought them into the ^(C1)wilderness.¹¹ "I gave them My ^(C1)statutes and explained My ordinances to them, ^(C2)which, if a man keeps, he will live.¹² "Also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a ^(C1)sign between Me and them, that they might know without any doubt that I am the LORD who sanctifies them (separates and sets them apart).¹³ "But the house of Israel ^(C1)rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they despised and rejected My ordinances, ^(C2)which, if a man keeps, he will live; and they greatly profaned My ^(C3)Sabbaths. Then I decided to ^(C4)pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.¹⁴ "But I acted for My Name's sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the pagan nations in whose sight I had brought them out of slavery.¹⁵ "^(C1)I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land of plenty ^(F1)flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament and glory of all lands,¹⁶ because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My Sabbaths, for their ^(C1)heart continually went after their worthless idols.¹⁷ "Yet My eye looked on them with compassion and spared them instead of destroying them, and I did not ^(C1)annihilate them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ "But I said to their ^(C1)children in the wilderness, '^(C2)Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols.¹⁹ '^(C1)I am the LORD your God; ^(C2)walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them.²⁰ '^(C1)Sanctify My Sabbaths and keep them holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know without any doubt that I am the LORD your God.'²¹ "Yet the ^(C1)children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.²² "Yet I ^(C1)withdrew My hand and acted ^(C2)for My Name's sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the pagan nations in whose sight I had brought them out of slavery.²³ "Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would ^(C1)scatter them among the Gentile nations and disperse them among the countries,²⁴ because they had not observed My ordinances, but had dishonored and rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and set ^(C1)their eyes on the man-made idols of their fathers.²⁵ "Therefore I also gave them statutes that were ^(C1)not good and ordinances by which they could not live; ^(VR1)26 and I pronounced them ^(C1)unclean because of their offerings to their idols, in that they ^(C2)made all their firstborn pass through the fire as pagan sacrifices, so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might ^(C3)know without any doubt that I am the LORD."' ^(VR1)

²⁷ "Therefore, son of man, ^(C1)speak to the house of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Again in this your fathers have ^(C2)blasphemed Me, in that they ^(C3)acted faithlessly and treacherously against Me.²⁸ "For when I had ^(C1)brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, they saw every ^(C2)high hill and every dark and leafy tree as a place for idol worship, and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger; there also they made their sweet-smelling aroma and there poured out their drink offerings.²⁹ "Then I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you go?' So the name of it is called Bamah (High Place) to this day."'³⁰ "Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Will you exiles defile yourselves in the same manner as your ^(C1)fathers? And will you prostitute yourselves before their loathsome and heinous things?³¹ "When you offer your gifts, when you ^(C1)make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be asked by you for an oracle, O house of Israel? As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you.³² "What ^(C1)comes into your mind will never happen, when you say, 'We will be like the pagan nations, like the tribes of the Gentile countries, ^(C2)serving idols made of wood and stone.'

God Will Restore Israel to Her Land

³³ "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "most certainly with a mighty hand and an ^(C1)outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be ^(C2)King over you.³⁴ "I will ^(C1)bring you out from the peoples and will gather you from the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with ^(C2)wrath poured out;³⁵ and I will bring you into the ^(C1)wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.³⁶ "As I ^(C1)entered into judgment with your fathers in the ^(C2)wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment and contend with you," says the Lord GOD. ^(VR1)37 "I will make you ^(C1)pass under the rod as the shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and constrain you and bring you into the bond of the covenant to which you are permanently bound. ^(VR1)38 "And I will ^(C1)separate from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they temporarily live, but they will ^(C2)not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know without any doubt that I am the LORD. ^(VR1)

³⁹ "As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD, "^(C1)Go, let everyone serve his idols; but later you shall most certainly listen to Me, and you shall no longer ^(C2)profane My holy name with your gifts and with your idols.⁴⁰ "For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel (Zion)," says the Lord GOD, "there the whole house of Israel, ^(C1)all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There I will graciously ^(C2)accept them, and there I will seek (require) your offerings and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy and sacred things.⁴¹ "I will accept you graciously as a pleasant and soothing aroma when I ^(C1)bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you have been scattered; and I will prove Myself holy and manifest My ^(C2)holiness among you in the sight of the nations. ^(VR1)42 "And ^(C1)you will know without any doubt that I am the LORD, ^(C2)when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the ^(C3)land which I swore to give to your fathers.⁴³ "There you will ^(C1)remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will ^(C2)loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all your evil deeds which you have done.⁴⁴ "And ^(C1)you will know without any doubt that I am the LORD when I have dealt with you ^(C2)for My Name's sake, not in accordance with your evil ways nor with your corrupt conduct, O house of Israel," says the Lord GOD.'"

⁴⁵ Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,⁴⁶ "Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the ^(C1)south and ^(C2)prophesy against the ^(C3)forest land of the Negev (the South),⁴⁷ and say to the forest of the Negev, 'Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am about to ^(C1)kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every one of your green trees, as well as every one of your dry trees. The blazing flame will not be quenched and ^(C2)the whole surface from the south to the north will be burned by it.⁴⁸ "All flesh will see that I the LORD have kindled it; it will ^(C1)not be quenched."'"⁴⁹ Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! They are saying of me, 'Is he not just speaking in ^(C1)parables and making allegories?'"