by Septuagint
[49] And I said, Not so, O Lord God! they say to me, Is not this that is spoken a parable?
Chapter 21
[1] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
[2] Therefore prophesy, son of man, set thy face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, and look toward their holy places, and thou shalt prophesy against the land of Israel, [3] and thou shalt say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and I will destroy out of thee the transgressor and unrighteous. [4] Because I will destroy out of thee the unrighteous and the transgressor, therefore so shall my sword come forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: [5] and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.
[6] And thou, son of man, groan with the breaking of thy loins; thou shalt even groan heavily in their sight. [7] And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to thee, Wherefore dost thou groan? that thou shalt say, For the report; because it comes: and every heart shall break, and all hands shall become feeble, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, saith the Lord.
[8] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [9] Son of man, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, Sword, sword, be sharpened and rage, [10] that thou mayest slay victims; be sharpened that thou mayest be bright, ready for slaughter, slay, set at nought, despise every tree. [11] And he made it ready for his hand to hold: the sword is sharpened, it is ready to put into the hand of the slayer.
[12] Cry out and howl, son of man: for this sword is come upon my people, this sword is come upon all the princes of Israel: they shall be as strangers: judgment with the sword is come upon my people: therefore clap thine hands, for sentence has been passed: [13] and what if even the tribe be rejected? it shall not be, saith the Lord God.
[14] And thou, son of man, prophesy, and clap thine hands, and take a second sword: the third sword is the sword of the slain, the great sword of the slain: and thou shalt strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint [15] and the weak ones be multiplied at every gate — they are given up to the slaughter of the sword: it is well fitted for slaughter, it is well fitted for glittering. [16] And do thou go on, sharpen thyself on the right and on the left whithersoever thy face may set itself.
[17] And I also will clap my hands, and let loose my fury: I the Lord have spoken it.
[18] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [19] and thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth of one country; and there shall be a force at the top of the way of the city, thou shalt set it at the top of the way, [20] that the sword may enter in upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and upon Judea, and upon Jerusalem in the midst thereof.
[21] For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to enquire of the graven images, and to examine the victims. [22] On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts. [23] And he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind.
[24] Therefore thus saith the Lord, Because ye have caused your iniquities to be remembered, in the discovery of your wickedness, so that your sins should be seen, in all your wickedness and in your evil practices; because ye have caused remembrance of them, in these shall ye be taken. [25] And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day, even and end, is come in a sea of iniquity, thus saith the Lord; [26] Thou hast taken off the mitre and put on the crown, it shall not have such another after it: thou hast abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low. [27] Injustice, injustice, injustice, will I make it: woe to it: such shall it be until he comes to whom it belongs; and I will deliver it to him.
[28] And thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and thou shalt say, O sword, sword, drawn for slaughter, and drawn for destruction, awake, that thou mayest gleam. [29] While thou art seeing vain visions, and while thou art prophesying falsehoods, to bring thyself upon the necks of ungodly transgressors, the day is come, even an end, in a season of iniquity.
[30] Turn, rest not in this place wherein thou wert born: in thine own land will I judge thee. [31] And I will pour out my wrath upon thee, I will blow upon thee with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver thee into the hands of barbarians skilled in working destruction. [32] Thou shalt be fuel for fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of thy land; there shall be no remembrance at all of thee: for I the Lord have spoken it.
Chapter 22
[1] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities. [3] And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself; [4] in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries, [5] to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, thou that art notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.
[6] Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood. [7] In thee they have reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow. [8] And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths. [9] There are robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee. [10] In thee they have uncovered the father’s shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness. [11] They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor’s wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.
[12] In thee they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.
[13] And if I shall smite my hand at thine iniquities which thou hast accomplished, which thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed in the midst of thee, [14] shall thy heart endure? shall thine hands be strong in the days which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do it. [15] And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be removed out of thee. [16] And I will give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
[17] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [18] Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me as it were mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.
[19] Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. [20] As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take you in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you. [21] And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. [22] As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.
[23] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [24] Son of man, say to her, Thou art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rai
n come upon thee in the day of wrath; [25] whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst of thee. [26] Her priests also have set at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have his their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them. [27] Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain. [28] And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken. [29] That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.
[30] And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found him not. [31] So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish it. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.
Chapter 23
[1] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother: [3] and they went a-whoring in Egypt in their youth: there their breasts fell, there they lost their virginity. [4] And their names were Oola the elder, and Ooliba her sister: and they were mine, and bore sons and daughters: and as for their names, Samaria was Oola, and Jerusalem was Ooliba.
[5] And Oola went a-whoring from me, and doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians that were her neighbors, [6] clothed with purple, princes and captains; they were young men and choice, all horseman riding on horses. [7] And she bestowed her fornication upon them; all were choice sons of the Assyrians: and on whomsoever she doted herself, with them she defiled herself in all their devices. [8] And she forsook not her fornication with the Egyptians: for in her youth they committed fornication with her, and they deflowered her, and poured out their fornication upon her. [9] Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the children of the Assyrians, on whom she doted. [10] They uncovered her shame: they took her sons and daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became a byword among women: and they wrought vengeance in her for the sake of the daughters.
[11] And her sister Ooliba saw it, and she indulged in her fondness more corruptly than she, and in her fornication more than the fornication of her sister. [12] She doted upon the sons of the Assyrian, princes and captains, her neighbours, clothed with fine linen, horsemen riding on horses; they were all choice young men. [13] And I saw that they were defiled, that the two had one way.
[14] And she increased her fornication, and she saw men painted on the wall, likenesses of the Chaldeans painted with a pencil, [15] having variegated girdles on their loins, having also richly dyed attire upon their heads; all had a princely appearance, the likeness of the children of the Chaldeans, of their native land. [16] And she doted upon them as soon as she saw them, and sent forth messengers to them into the land of the Chaldeans. [17] And the sons of Babylon came to her, into the bed of rest, and they defiled her in her fornication, and she was defiled by them, and her soul was alienated from them. [18] And she exposed her fornication, and exposed her shame: and my soul was alienated from her, even as my soul was alienated from her sister.
[19] And thou didst multiply thy fornication, so as to call to remembrance the days of thy youth, wherein thou didst commit whoredom in Egypt, [20] and thou didst dote upon the Chaldeans, whose flesh is as the flesh of the asses, and their members as the members of horses. [21] And thou didst look upon the iniquity of thy youth, the things which thou wroughtest in Egypt in thy lodgings, where were the breasts of thy youth.
[22] Therefore, Ooliba, thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will stir up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them upon thee round about, [23] the children of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, Phacuc, and Sue, and Hychue, and all the sons of the Assyrians with them; choice young men, governors and captains, all princes and renowned, riding on horses. [24] And they all shall come upon thee from the north, chariots and wheels, with a multitude of nations, shields and targets; and the enemy shall set a watch against thee round about: and I will set judgement before them, and they shall take vengeance on thee with their judgements. [25] And I will bring upon thee my jealousy, and they shall deal with thee in great wrath: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and shall cast down thy remnant with the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy remnant fire shall devour. [26] And they shall strip thee of thy raiment, and take away thine ornaments. [27] So I will turn back thine ungodliness from thee, and thy fornication from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt not lift up thine eyes upon them, and shalt no more remember Egypt.
[28] Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hands of those whom thou hatest, from whom thy soul is alienated. [29] And they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take all the fruits of thy labours and thy toils, and thou shalt be naked and bare: and the shame of thy fornication shall be exposed: and thy ungodliness and thy fornication [30] brought this upon thee, in that thou wentest a-whoring after the nations, and didst defile thyself with their devices.
[31] Thou didst walk in the way of thy sister; and I will put her cup into thine hands. [32] Thus saith the Lord; Drink thy sister’s cup, deep and large, and full, to cause complete drunkenness. [33] And thou shalt be thoroughly weakened; and the cup of destruction, the cup of thy sister Samaria, [34] drink thou it, and I will take away her feasts and her new moons: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord. [35] Therefore thus saith the Lord; Because thou has forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore receive thou the reward of thine ungodliness and thy fornication.
[36] And the Lord said to me, Son of man wilt thou not judge Oola and Ooliba? and declare to them their iniquities? [37] For they have committed adultery, and blood was in their hands, they committed adultery with their devices, and they passed through the fire to them their children which they bore to me. [38] So long too as they did these things to me, they defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my sabbaths. [39] And when they sacrificed their children to their idols, they also went into my sanctuary to profane it: and whereas they did thus in the midst of my house; [40] and whereas they did thus to the men that came from afar, to whom they sent messengers, and as soon as they came, immediately thou didst wash thyself, and didst paint thine eyes and adorn thyself with ornaments, [41] and satest on a prepared bed, and before it there was a table set out, and as for mine incense and mine oil, they rejoiced in them, [42] and they raised a sound of music, and that with men coming from the wilderness out of a multitude of men, and they put bracelets on their hands, and a crown of glory on their heads;
[43] Therefore I said, Do they not commit adultery with these? and has she also gone a-whoring after the manner of a harlot? [44] And they went in to her, as men go in to a harlot; so they went in to Oola and to Ooliba to work iniquity. [45] And they are just men, and shall take vengeance on them with the judgement of an adulteress and the judgement of blood: for they are adulteresses, land blood is in their hands.
[46] Thus saith the Lord God, Bring up a multitude upon them, and send trouble and plunder into the midst of them. [47] And stone them with the stones of a multitude, and pierce them with their swords: they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and shall burn up their houses. [48] And I will remove ungodliness out of the land, and all the women shall be instructed, and shall not do according to their ungodliness. [49] And your ungodliness shall be recompensed upon you, and ye shall bear the guilt of your devices: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 24
[1] And the word of the Lord came to me, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying, [2] Son of man, write for thyself daily from this day, on which the king of Babylo
n set himself against Jerusalem, even from this day. [3] And speak a parable to the provoking house, and thou shalt say to them,
Thus saith the Lord; Set on the caldron, and pour water into it: [4] and put the pieces into it, every prime piece, the leg and shoulder taken off from the bones, [5] which are taken from choice cattle, and burn the bones under them: her bones are boiled and cooked in the midst of her.
[6] Therefore thus saith the Lord; O bloody city, the caldron in which there is scum, and the scum has not gone out of, she has brought it forth piece by piece, no lot has fallen upon it. [7] For her blood is in the midst of her; I have set it upon a smooth rock: I have not poured it out upon the earth, so that the earth should cover it; [8] that my wrath should come up for complete vengeance to be taken: I set her blood upon a smooth rock, so as not to cover it.
[9] Therefore thus saith the Lord, I will also make the firebrand great, [10] and I will multiply the wood, and kindle the fire, that the flesh may be consumed, and the liquor boiled away; [11] and that it may stand upon the coals, that her brass may be thoroughly heated, and be melted in the midst of her filthiness, and her scum may be consumed, [12] and her abundant scum may not come forth of her. [13] Her scum shall become shameful, because thou didst defile thyself: and what if thou shalt be purged no more until I have accomplished my wrath?
[14] I the Lord have spoken; and it shall come, and I will do it; I will not delay, neither will I have any mercy: I will judge thee, saith the Lord, according to thy ways, and according to thy devices: therefore will I judge thee according to thy bloodshed, and according to thy devices will I judge thee, thou unclean, notorious, and abundantly provoking one.
