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¹ And the men of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.² And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,³ Son of man, these men have caused their idols to go up in their hearts, and have put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I at all be sought by them?⁴ Therefore, speak to them and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel who causes idols to go up in his heart, and who puts the stumbling-block of his iniquitybefore his face, and comes to the prophet, I,Jehovah, will answer him in it by the host of his idols,⁵ so that I may capture the house of Israel in their own heart, who are estranged from Me by their idols, all of them.⁶ Therefore, say to the house of Israel, So says the Lord Jehovah: turn, and be turned from your idols, and from all your abominations turn away your faces.⁷ For every man of the house of Israel, or of the alien who resides in Israel, who is separated from after Me and causes his idols to go up in his heart, and puts the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet toinquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, will answer him Myself.⁸ And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him desolate for a sign and for proverbs. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.⁹ And the prophet, if he is deceived, and he speaks a word, I, Jehovah, have deceived that prophet. And I will stretch out My hand on him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity. As the iniquity of the inquirer, so the iniquity of the prophet shall be.¹¹ So that the house of Israel may not stray any more from after Me, and not be defiled again with all their transgressions; but they are to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God, declares the Lord Jehovah.

¹² And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,¹³ Son of man, when a land sins against Me, baring a faithless act, then I will stretch out My hand on it, and I will shatter the staff of bread to it, and I will send famine on it. And I will cut off from it man and beast.¹⁴ And though these three men were in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, by their righteousness they should deliver only their souls, declares the Lord Jehovah.¹⁵ If I make evil beasts go through the land, and they bereave it, and it is desolate, so that no one would go through because of the beasts,¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; they would only deliver themselves, but the land would be desolate.¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword on that land and say, Let a sword go through the land, and I will cut off man and beast from it;¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they should not deliver sons or daughters, but they only would deliver themselves.¹⁹ Or if I send a plague into the land and pour out My fury on it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast;²⁰ though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they by their righteousness would deliver only their souls.²¹ For so says the Lord Jehovah, How much more when the four of My evil judgments: sword, and famine, and evil beast, and plague I send on Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast!²² Yet, behold, there shall be left in it escaping ones that shall be brought out, sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come to you, and you shall see their way and their doings. And you will be comforted for the evil which I have brought againstJerusalem, for all which I have brought upon it.²³ And they will comfort you when you see their way and their doings. And you will know that not in vain I have done all that I did in it, declares the Lord Jehovah.