Ezekiel 14

1 One day some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

Then came there unto me men, of the elders of Israel, —and sat before me—

2 Then Yahweh gave me this message:

And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying:

3 “You human, these men want to [IDM] worship idols, and they are allowing idols to induce them to sin [IDM]. So I will certainly [RHQ] answer them if they ask me for advice.

Son of man These men have brought up their manufactured gods upon their hear, And their stumbling-block of iniquity, have they set straight before their face, —Shall I be at all enquired of by them?

4 So say this to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: When any Israeli person wants to worship idols which will induce him to sin, and he goes to a [to get advice], I, Yahweh, will give him the answer that he deserves to receive because he worship idols.

Therefore speak unto them and say unto them, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Any man whatsoever of the house of Israel Who shall bring up his manufactured gods upon his heart, And set, his stumbling-block of iniquity, straight before his face, And then come in unto the prophet, I Yahweh, have myself answered him thereby. By the multitude of his manufactured gods:

5 [I will do that] in order that the Israeli people, who have abandoned me in order to worship their idols, will sincerely [IDM] worship me again.’

To the end the house of Israel may be taken by their own hearts, —in that they have estranged themselves from me, through their manufactured gods—all of them!

6 Therefore, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: (Repent/Stop sinning)! Stop worshiping your idols, and stop all your [other] detestable behavior!’

Therefore, say thou unto the house of Israel, Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, Turn ye—and make good your return—from your manufactured gods; And, from all your abominations, make good the turning away of your faces.

7 When any of [you] Israeli people or any foreigner living among you turns away from me and starts worshiping idols [IDM] that induce him to sin, and then goes to a prophet to find out what I want him to do, I myself will answer him.

For what man soever of the house of Israel Or of the sojourners who sojourn in Israel, Who shall estrange himself from following me And who shall bring up his manufactured gods, on his heart, And whose stumbling-block of iniquity, he shall set straight before his face, And then come in unto the prophet, to enquire by him of me, I Yahweh, will myself answer him, on my own account;

8 I will show that I detest him, and [what happens to] him to be a warning [to others], and cause him to be someone whom people despise. I will cause him to no longer be allowed to associate with my people. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

And will set my face against that man And will make of him a sign and a proverb, And will cut him off out of the midst of my people: So shall ye know that, I, am Yahweh.

9 And if a prophet is deceived and gives a false prophecy, [even though] I [allowed him to] give that message, I will get rid of him and remove him from among my Israeli people.

Yea the prophet himself when he suffereth himself to be deceived, and speaketh a word, I Yahweh, have suffered that prophet to be deceived, Then will I stretch forth my hand against him, and destroy him out of the midst of my people. Israel:

10 Both the prophet and the one who asks him for advice will be guilty, [and I will punish both of them].

So shall they bear their punishment, As the punishment of him that enquireth, So shall the punishment of the prophet be:

11 Then you Israeli people will no longer abandon me, and you will no longer become unacceptable to me because of your sins. You will be my people, and I will be your God. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, say.”

That the house of Israel may no more go astray from following me, And no more defile themselves by any of their transgressions, — But may become my people, and I, may become their God, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

12 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],

And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

13 “You human, [the people of some] country sin against me by abandoning me, and I punish [IDM] them by cutting off their food supply and by sending a famine, with the result that people and animals die,

Son of man, When a land, shall sin against me by committing treachery, and I shall stretch out my hand against it, And break for it the staff of bread, And send thereon famine, And cut off therefrom man and beast,

14 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they would save only themselves because of their being righteous. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

Then should these three men be in the midst thereof, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they by their righteousness should deliver their own lives— Declareth My Lord, Yahweh.

15 Or, if I send wild animals throughout the country, and they attack and [many of] [HYP] the people, with the result that travel in that country becomes very dangerous and no one travels through that country,

If a mischievous wild beast, I suffer to pass through the land, and that beast bereave it, so that it become too desolate for any man to pass through, by reason of the wild beast,

16 [as surely] as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they could not save [even their own] sons or [from being killed]. Only those [three] would (be saved/remain alive), and the country would become desolate. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

[Were] these three men in the midst thereof, As I live, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Surely neither sons nor daughters, should they deliver, They alone should be delivered, But the land, should become a desolation.

17 Or, if I bring enemy soldiers [MTY] to attack that country, and they kill [MTY] people and animals throughout that country with their swords,

Or, a sword, I should bring upon that land, and should say. O sword! thou shalt go through the land, and so I should cut off therefrom, man and beast,

18 as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they would not be able to save even their own sons or [from being killed]. They would save only themselves. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

Were these three men in the midst thereof, As I live! Saith My Lord Yahweh, They should deliver neither sons nor daughters, — For they alone, should be delivered.

19 Or, if I send a plague into that land and cause the people and the animals to [from the plague] because I am very angry with those people,

Or pestilence, I, should send into that land, —and should pour out mine indignation thereon in blood, to cut off therefrom man and beast

20 [as surely] as I am alive, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country, they would not [be able to] save even their sons and daughters. They would save only themselves because of their being righteous. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

Were Noah, Daniel and Job in the midst thereof, As I live, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Surely neither son nor daughter, should they deliver, They, by their righteousness should deliver only their own lives.

21 So [now] this is what [I, ], Yahweh the Lord, say: I will cause four things to happen to [the people of] Jerusalem to punish them very severely. [Some] people and animals will be killed by swords, [some will die from] famines, [others will be attacked and killed by] wild animals, and [others will die in] plagues.

For thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, How much less [should they avail] when my four calamitous judgments, sword and famine and mischievous wild beast and pestilence I have sent against Jerusalem, —to cut off therefrom man and beast?

22 But some [of your people] will remain alive, [both adults] and children. They will come to you, [Ezekiel, in Babylon]. And when you see [disgusting] behavior and actions, you will realize that I had good reasons for causing [the people of] Jerusalem to experience those many great disasters [DOU] that I have sent to them.

Yet lo! there hath been left therein a remnant of fugitives to be brought forth —sons and daughters— There they are! coming forth unto you, And so ye shall see their way, and their doings, and be consoled over the calamity which I have brought in upon Jerusalem even all that I have brought in upon her.

23 When you see those things that they do, you will know that there were very good reasons [LIT] for me to do everything that I caused to happen to them. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.”

Yea they shall console you, when ye see their way and their doings, — So shall ye know that not without cause, have I done, anything that I have done with her, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.