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Ezekiel

Israel's History of Rebellion and Divine Judgment

20
Chapter 20
1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, some elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat before him. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 3 Son of Adam, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord the LORD: Are you coming to seek me? As I live, if I will seek you, declares the Lord the LORD. 4 Will you judge them? Will you judge, son of man, the abomination of their fathers? Make them know. 5 And you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day I chose in Israel and I lifted my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and I lifted my hand to them saying, I am the LORD your God. 6 On that day I lifted my hand to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had spied out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all the lands. 7 And I said to them, "Each one of you, throw away the abominations of your eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." 8 And they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. Man did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, and they did not leave the idols of Egypt. And I said to pour out my wrath on them, to consume my anger in them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 And I acted for the sake of my name, so as not to profane it in the eyes of the nations in whose midst they are, in whose eyes I made myself known to them in order to bring them out from the land of Egypt. 10 And I brought them out from the land of Egypt and I brought them to the wilderness. 11 And I gave them my statutes and my legal judgments, which I made known to them: if a man does them, he will live by them. 12 I also gave my Sabbaths to them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I, the LORD, am the one sanctifying them. 13 And they rebelled against me, the house of Israel in the wilderness. In my statutes they did not walk, and my judgments they rejected—which a man does them and lives by them. And my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. And I said to pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 And I acted for the sake of my name, so as not to profane it in the eyes of the nations, whom I brought them out before their eyes. 15 And I also lifted my hand to them in the wilderness, not to bring them to the land that I gave them, the land flowing with milk and honey, the beauty of all the lands. 16 Because they rejected my judgments and did not walk in my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols. 17 My eyes spared them from destroying them, and I did not make a complete end of them in the wilderness. 18 I said to their sons in the wilderness, "Do not walk in the statutes of their fathers, and do not keep their judgments, and do not defile yourselves with their idols." 19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep and do my legal judgments. 20 And sanctify my Sabbaths, and they will be for a sign between me and you, to know that I am the LORD your God. 21 And they rebelled against me—the sons did not walk in my statutes, and they did not keep my judgments to do them, which a man does and lives by them. They profaned my Sabbaths, and I said to pour out my wrath on them, to consume my anger in them in the wilderness. 22 But I restrained my hand and acted for the sake of my name, so as not to profane it in the sight of the nations before whom I brought them out. 23 Indeed, I myself lifted my hand against them in the wilderness to scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24 Because they did not do my judgments, and they rejected my statutes, and they profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. 25 I also gave them statutes that were not good and judgments by which they will not live. 26 And I defiled them in their gifts, in passing every firstborn of the womb, in order to make them desolate, so that they would know that I am the LORD. 27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet in this way your fathers blasphemed me by trespassing against me in their trespass. 28 I brought them to the land that I had sworn to give them. And they saw every high hill and every thick tree, and they sacrificed there their sacrifices and presented there their provoking offerings. And they set there the aroma of their soothing odors, and they poured out there their libations. 29 Then he said to them, "What is the high place to which you are coming?" And it is called the high place to this day.