American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, which he spake by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
and the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith Jehovah.
For this city hath been to me a provocation of mine anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my {Hebrew: heart.}mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me.
Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, {Or, as amber to look upon}as it were glowing metal.
And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the {Or, vision}appearance that I saw in the plain.
Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
And he said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, {Or, to get them far off}that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But {Or, turn thee yet again, and thou shall see greater abominations So also in verse 13, 15.}thou shalt again see yet other great abominations.
And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.
Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door.
And he said unto me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.
So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.
Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.
He said also unto me, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do.
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah's house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.
And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
Therefore will I also deal in wrath; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Then he cried in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, {Or, Draw ye near that &c.}Cause ye them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the north, every man with his {Or, battle-axes}slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn {Hebrew: upon his loins.}by his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn {Hebrew: upon his loins.}by his side.
And Jehovah said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.
And to the others he said in my hearing, Go ye through the city after him, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity;
slay {Hebrew: to destruction.}utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the {Or, elders}old men that were before the house.
And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city.
And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?
Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of {Or, perverseness}wresting of judgment: for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah seeth not.
And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way upon their head.
And behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
Thou art the daughter of thy mother, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
And thine elder sister is Samaria, that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Yet hast thou not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.
As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my {Hebrew: judgement.}determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
For then will I turn to the peoples of a pure {Hebrew: lip.}language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one {Hebrew: shoulder.}consent.
I delight to do thy will, O my God;Yea, thy law is within my heart.
I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly;Lo, I will not refrain my lips,O Jehovah, thou knowest.
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation;I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great assembly.
The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil.
Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.
Wherefore I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;
and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
And when they came unto the nations, whither they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of his land.
But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went.
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: {Or, I work not for &c.}I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went.
And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before {Or, according to another reading, your}their eyes.