Israel’s Rebellious Past and Its Future

¹In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, certain elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat down before me. ²And the word of the Lord came to me:

³O mortal, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them: Thus said the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, I will not respond to your inquiry—declares the Lord God.

⁴Arraign, arraign them, O mortal! Declare to them the abhorrent deeds of their fathers. ⁵Say to them: Thus said the Lord God:

On the day that I chose Israel, I gave My oath to the stock of the House of Jacob; when I made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I gave my oath to them. When I said, “I the Lord am your God,” ⁶that same day I swore to them to take them out of the land of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey, a land which I had sought out for them, the fairest of all lands.

⁷I also said to them: Cast away, every one of you, the detestable things that you are drawn to, and do not defile yourselves with the fetishes of Egypt—I the Lord am your God. ⁸But they defied Me and refused to listen to Me. They did not cast away the detestable things they were drawn to, nor did they give up the fetishes of Egypt. Then I resolved to pour out My fury upon them, to vent all My anger upon them there, in the land of Egypt. ⁹But I acted for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they were. For it was before their eyes that I had made Myself known to Israel to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰I brought them out of the land of Egypt and I led them into the wilderness. ¹¹I gave them My laws and taught them My rules, by the pursuit of which a man shall live. ¹²Moreover, I gave them My sabbaths to serve as a sign between Me and them, that they might know that it is I the Lord who sanctify them. ¹³But the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not follow My laws and they rejected My rules—by the pursuit of which a man shall live—and they grossly desecrated My sabbaths. Then I thought to pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness and to make an end of them; ¹⁴but I acted for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations before whose eyes I had led them out. [ . . . ] ¹⁷[ . . . ] I had pity on them and did not destroy them; I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. [ . . . ]

²⁸When I brought them to the land that I had sworn to give them, and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, they slaughtered their sacrifices there and presented their offensive offerings there; there they produced their pleasing odors and poured out their libations. [ . . . ]

³⁰Now say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Lord God: If you defile yourselves as your fathers did and go astray after their detestable things, ³¹and if to this very day you defile yourselves in the presentation of your gifts by making your children pass through the fire to all your fetishes, shall I respond to your inquiry, O House of Israel? As I live—declares the Lord God—I will not respond to you. ³²And what you have in mind shall never come to pass—when you say, “We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, worshiping wood and stone.” ³³As I live—declares the Lord God—I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with overflowing fury. ³⁴With a strong hand and an outstretched arm and overflowing fury I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, ³⁵and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples; and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. [ . . . ] ³⁷I will make you pass under the shepherd’s staff,^a and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸I will remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me; I will take them out of the countries where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. [ . . . ]

⁴¹When I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you are scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing odor; and I will be sanctified through you in the sight of the nations. ⁴²Then, when I have brought you to the land of Israel, to the country that I swore to give to your fathers, you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁴³There you will recall your ways and all the acts by which you defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils that you committed. ⁴⁴Then, O House of Israel, you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My name’s sake—not in accordance with your evil ways and corrupt acts—declares the Lord God.