| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then some men from Israel's elders came to me and sat down in front of me. | 1Then some of the leaders of Israel visited me, and while they were sitting with me, |
| 2The word of the LORD came to me: | 2this message came to me from the LORD: |
| 3"Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek me? | 3“Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests? |
| 4Therefore speak to them and say to them, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: When any one from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the LORD am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry. | 4Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts and fallen into sin, and then they go to a prophet asking for a message. So I, the LORD, will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves. |
| 5I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.' | 5I will do this to capture the minds and hearts of all my people who have turned from me to worship their detestable idols.’ |
| 6"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations. | 6“Therefore, tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent and turn away from your idols, and stop all your detestable sins. |
| 7For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the LORD am determined to answer him personally. | 7I, the LORD, will answer all those, both Israelites and foreigners, who reject me and set up idols in their hearts and so fall into sin, and who then come to a prophet asking for my advice. |
| 8I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD. | 8I will turn against such people and make a terrible example of them, eliminating them from among my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD. |
| 9"'As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word--I, the LORD, have made a fool of that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. | 9“‘And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel. |
| 10They will bear their punishment; the punishment of the one who sought an oracle will be the same as the punishment of the prophet who gave it | 10False prophets and those who seek their guidance will all be punished for their sins. |
| 11so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor continue to defile themselves by all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God, declares the sovereign LORD.'" | 11In this way, the people of Israel will learn not to stray from me, polluting themselves with sin. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!’” The Certainty of the LORD’s Judgment |
| 12The word of the LORD came to me: | 12Then this message came to me from the LORD: |
| 13"Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals. | 13“Son of man, suppose the people of a country were to sin against me, and I lifted my fist to crush them, cutting off their food supply and sending a famine to destroy both people and animals. |
| 14Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign LORD. | 14Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves, says the Sovereign LORD. |
| 15"Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals. | 15“Or suppose I were to send wild animals to invade the country, kill the people, and make the land too desolate and dangerous to pass through. |
| 16Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate. | 16As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be made desolate. |
| 17"Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, 'Let a sword pass through the land,' and I were to kill both people and animals. | 17“Or suppose I were to bring war against the land, and I sent enemy armies to destroy both people and animals. |
| 18Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, they could not save their own sons or daughters--they would save only their own lives. | 18As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. |
| 19"Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals. | 19“Or suppose I were to pour out my fury by sending an epidemic into the land, and the disease killed people and animals alike. |
| 20Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness. | 20As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved by their righteousness. |
| 21"For this is what the sovereign LORD says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments--sword, famine, wild animals, and plague--to Jerusalem to kill both people and animals! | 21“Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: How terrible it will be when all four of these dreadful punishments fall upon Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease—destroying all her people and animals. |
| 22Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem--for everything I brought on it. | 22Yet there will be survivors, and they will come here to join you as exiles in Babylon. You will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and then you will feel better about what I have done to Jerusalem. |
| 23They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign LORD." | 23When you meet them and see their behavior, you will understand that these things are not being done to Israel without cause. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!” |
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