The Book of Ezekiel
14: 1Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 14:2And
the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 14:3Son of man, these men have taken
their idols into their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before
their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? 14:4Therefore speak unto them,
and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel
that taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity
before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I Jehovah will answer him therein
according to the multitude of his idols; 14:5that I may take the house of Israel in
their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
14:6Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye,
and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your
abominations. 14:7For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that
sojourn in Israel, that separateth himself from me, and taketh his idols into his
heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh
to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Jehovah will answer him by myself:
14:8and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for
a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye
shall know that I am Jehovah. 14:9And if the prophet be deceived and speak a word,
I, Jehovah, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him,
and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 14:10And they shall bear
their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him that
seeketh unto him; 14:11that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me,
neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may
be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah. 14:12And the word of
Jehovah came unto me, saying, 14:13Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by
committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of
the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast;
14:14though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver
but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah. 14:15If I cause
evil beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate,
so that no man may pass through because of the beasts; 14:16though these three men
were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor
daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate. 14:17Or if
I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut
off from it man and beast; 14:18though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the
Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only
should be delivered themselves. 14:19Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and
pour out my wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast; 14:20though
Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should
deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their
righteousness. 14:21For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send
my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil
beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 14:22Yet, behold, therein
shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold,
they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye
shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even
concerning all that I have brought upon it. 14:23And they shall comfort you, when ye
see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without
cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.