He answered me,“ The sin of Israel and Judah is very great. The land is full of murderers. Its people are not being fair to one another anywhere in Jerusalem. They say,‘ The Lord has deserted the land. He doesn’t see us.’

他对我说：“以色列家和犹大家的罪孽极其重大。遍地有流血的事，满城有冤屈，因为他们说：‘耶和华已经离弃这地，他看不见我们。’

他对我说：“以色列家和犹大家的罪孽极其重大。遍地都有流血的事，满城有冤屈，因为他们说：‘耶和华已经离弃这地，他看不见我们。’

他对我说：“以色列家和犹大家的罪孽极其重大。遍地都有流血的事，满城有冤屈，因为他们说：‘耶和华已经离弃这地，他看不见我们。’

祂回答说：“以色列和犹大人罪大恶极，遍地是血腥，满城是冤屈，他们说，‘耶和华丢弃了这片土地，祂看不见我们。’

他对我说：“以色列家和犹大家罪大恶极，地上充满血腥，城内充满不义，因为他们说：‘耶和华已经离开这地，他看不见我们了！’

他對我說：「以色列家和猶大家的罪孽極其重大。遍地有流血的事，滿城有冤屈，因為他們說：『耶和華已經離棄這地，他看不見我們。』

他對我說：「以色列家和猶大家的罪孽極其重大。遍地都有流血的事，滿城有冤屈，因為他們說：『耶和華已經離棄這地，他看不見我們。』

他對我說：「以色列家和猶大家的罪孽極其重大。遍地都有流血的事，滿城有冤屈，因為他們說：『耶和華已經離棄這地，他看不見我們。』

祂回答說：「以色列和猶大人罪大惡極，遍地是血腥，滿城是冤屈，他們說，『耶和華丟棄了這片土地，祂看不見我們。』

他對我說：“以色列家和猶大家罪大惡極，地上充滿血腥，城內充滿不義，因為他們說：‘耶和華已經離開這地，他看不見我們了！’

他對我說：『以色列家和猶大家的罪孽極而又極之大，遍地滿有流血的事，城裏滿了冤屈，因為他們說：「永恆主離棄了這地了！永恆主看不見我們！」

彼曰、以色列及猶大家、罪戾甚重、流血遍地、舉邑枉法、自謂耶和華遺棄斯土、耶和華不見之矣、

主曰、以色列族、猶大家、罪戾甚重、殺人遍地、舉邑違逆、自謂耶和華不加鑒察、耶和華已遐棄斯土、

主諭我曰、以色列族與猶大族、罪愆甚重、殺人徧地、舉邑不法、彼自謂主已離棄斯地、主必不鑒察、

He answered me,“ The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say,‘ The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’

Then he said to me,“ The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say,‘ The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’

Then he said to me,“ The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying,‘ The Lord doesn’t see it! The Lord has abandoned the land!’

He answered me,“ The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say,‘ The LORD has abandoned the land; he does not see.’

Then He said to me,“ The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is full of perversion; for they say,‘ The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’

Then He said to me,“ The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say,‘ The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’

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 wresting of judgment: for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah seeth not.

He answered me:“ The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say,‘ The Lord has abandoned the land; He does not see.’

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 perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.

He said to me,“ The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, for they say,‘ The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see!’

Then he said to me,“ The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion; for they say,‘ Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see.’

But you still say,‘ What does God know? Can he see through the darkest clouds to judge us?

The Lord spoke to me. He said,“ Son of man, do you see what the elders of Israel are doing in the dark? Each of them is in his own room worshiping his own god. They say,‘ The Lord doesn’t see us. He has deserted the land.’ ”

“‘ Ezekiel, get ready to put my people in chains. The land is full of murderers. They are harming one another all over Jerusalem.

Manasseh also spilled the blood of many people who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. He spilled so much blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end of the city to the other. And he caused Judah to commit sin. So they also did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’ s temple“ unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.The Lord, the God of Israel, sent word to his people through his messengers. He sent it to them again and again. He took pity on his people. He also took pity on the temple where he lived.But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the Lord’ s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them.

How terrible it will be for people who try hard to hide their plans from the Lord! They do their work in darkness. They think,“ Who sees us? Who will know?”

Then I said,“ Listen, you leaders of Jacob’s people! Pay attention, you rulers of Israel! You should want to judge others fairly.But you hate what is good. And you love what is evil. You are like someone who tears the skin off my people. You pull the meat off their bones.You eat my people’s bodies. You strip off their skin. You break their bones in pieces. You chop them up like meat. You put them in a cooking pot.”

They say,“ The Lord doesn’t see what’s happening. The God of Jacob doesn’t pay any attention to it.”

Sinful people say to themselves,“ God will never notice. He covers his face. He never sees us.”

The blood of those you have killed is on your clothes. You have destroyed poor people who were not guilty. You did not catch them in the act of breaking in. In spite of all this,

I know that after I’m dead you will certainly become very sinful. You will turn away from the path I’ve commanded you to take. In days to come, trouble will fall on you. That’s because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. You will make him very angry because of the statues of gods your hands have made.”

Manasseh had spilled the blood of many people who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. In fact, he spilled so much of their blood that he filled Jerusalem with it. So the Lord refused to forgive him.

So you will pay for all the godly people’s blood spilled on earth. I mean from the blood of godly Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. Zechariah was the one you murdered between the temple and the altar.What I’m about to tell you is true. All this will happen to those who are now living.“ Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. And you would not let me!

He said to me,“ Son of man, have you seen all of this? The people of Judah are doing things here that I hate. This is a very serious matter. They are harming one another all through the land. They continue to make me very angry. Just look at them making fun of me!

Listen to me, you leaders of Jacob’s people! Pay attention, you rulers of Israel! You hate to do what is fair. You twist everything that is right.You build up Zion by spilling the blood of others. You build Jerusalem by doing what is evil.Your judges take money from people who want special favors. Your priests teach only if they get paid for it. Your prophets won’t tell fortunes unless they receive money. But you still look for the Lord’ s help. You say,“ The Lord is with us. No trouble will come on us.”So because of what you have done, Zion will be plowed up like a field. Jerusalem will be turned into a pile of trash. The temple hill will be covered with bushes and weeds.

“ Jehoiakim, the only thing on your mind is to get rich by cheating others. You would even kill people who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. You would mistreat them. You would take everything they own.”

Israel, you have sinned against him very much. It’s too bad for you that you aren’t his children anymore. You have become a twisted and evil nation.

The Lord says,“ Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look around. Think about what you see. Search through the market. See if you can find one honest person who tries to be truthful. If you can, I will forgive this city.They make their promises in my name. They say,‘ You can be sure that the Lord is alive.’ But their promises can’t be trusted.”Lord, don’t your eyes look for truth? You struck down your people. But they didn’t feel any pain. You crushed them. But they refused to be corrected. They made their faces harder than stone. They refused to turn away from their sins.I thought,“ The people of Jerusalem are foolish. They don’t know how the Lord wants them to live. They don’t know what their God requires of them.So I will go to the leaders. I’ll speak to them. They should know how the Lord wants them to live. They must know what their God requires of them.” But all of them had broken off the yoke the Lord had put on them. They had torn off the ropes he had tied them up with.So a lion from the forest will attack them. A wolf from the desert will destroy them. A leopard will hide and wait near their towns. It will tear to pieces anyone who dares to go out. Again and again they have refused to obey the Lord. They have turned away from him many times.The Lord says,“ Jerusalem, why should I forgive you? Your people have deserted me. They have made their promises in the names of gods that are not really gods at all. I supplied everything they needed. But they committed adultery. Large crowds went to the houses of prostitutes.Your people are like stallions that have plenty to eat. Their sinful desires are out of control. Each of them goes after another man’s wife.Shouldn’t I punish them for this?” announces the Lord.“ Shouldn’t I pay back the nation that does these things?

So the people of today will be punished. They will pay for all the prophets’ blood spilled since the world began.

But look! You are trusting in worthless lies.“‘ “You continue to steal and commit murder. You commit adultery. You tell lies in court. You burn incense to Baal. You worship other gods you didn’t know before.

Ezekiel, the princes of the land are like a roaring lion that tears its food apart. They eat people up. They take treasures and other valuable things. They cause many women in the land to become widows.Its priests break my law. They treat things set apart to me as if they were not holy. They treat holy and common things as if they were the same. They teach that there is no difference between things that are‘ clean’ and things that are not. They refuse to keep my Sabbath days. So they treat me as if I were not holy.The officials in the land are like wolves that tear their food apart. They spill blood and kill people to get rich.The prophets cover up these acts for them. The visions of these prophets are false. They use magic to try to find out what is going to happen. But their magic tricks are lies. They say,‘ The Lord and King says.’ But I have not spoken to them.The people of the land get rich by cheating others. They steal. They crush those who are poor and in need. They treat outsiders badly. They refuse to be fair to them.“ I looked for someone among them who would stand up for Jerusalem. I tried to find someone who would pray to me for the land. Then I would not have to destroy it. But I could not find anyone who would pray for it.So I will pour out my anger on its people. I will destroy them because of my great anger against them. And anything that happens to them will be their own fault,” announces the Lord and King.

That’s because we’ve done so many things he considers wrong. Our sins prove that we are guilty. The wrong things we’ve done are always troubling us. We admit that we have sinned.We’ve refused to obey the Lord. We’ve made evil plans against him. We’ve turned our backs on our God. We’ve stirred up conflict and refused to follow him. We’ve told lies that came from our own minds.So people stop others from doing what is fair. They keep them from doing what is right. No one tells the truth in court anymore. No one is honest there.In fact, truth can’t be found anywhere. Those who refuse to do evil are attacked. The Lord sees that people aren’t treating others fairly. That makes him unhappy.

When Israel grew fat, they became stubborn. When they were filled with food, they became fat and heavy. They left the God who made them. They turned away from the Rock who saved them.They made him jealous by serving false gods. They made him angry by worshiping statues of gods. He hated those gods.The people sacrificed to those false gods, not to God. They hadn’t known anything about those false gods. Those gods were new to them. Their people of long ago didn’t worship them.But then they deserted the Rock. He was their Father. They forgot the God who created them.When the Lord saw this, he turned away from them. His sons and daughters made him angry.“ I will turn my face away from them,” he said.“ I will see what will happen to them in the end. They are sinful people. They are unfaithful children.They made me jealous by serving what is not even a god. They made me angry by worshiping worthless statues of gods. I will use people who are not a nation to make them jealous. A nation that has no understanding will make them angry.My anger will start a fire. It will burn all the way down to the kingdom of the dead. It will eat up the earth and its crops. It will set the base of the mountains on fire.

All of this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them up out of Egypt. He had brought them out from under the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But they worshiped other gods.The Lord had driven out other nations to make room for Israel. But they followed the evil practices of those nations. They also followed the practices that the kings of Israel had started.The Israelites did things in secret against the Lord their God. What they did wasn’t right. They built high places for worship in all their towns. They built them at lookout towers. They also built them at cities that had high walls around them.They set up sacred stones. And they set up poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. They did that on every high hill and under every green tree.The Lord had driven out nations to make room for Israel. But the Israelites burned incense at every high place, just as those nations had done. The Israelites did evil things that made the Lord very angry.They worshiped statues of gods. They did it even though the Lord had said,“ Do not do that.”The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers. He said,“ Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commands and rules. Obey every part of my Law. I commanded your people who lived long ago to obey it. And I gave it to you through my servants the prophets.”But the people wouldn’t listen. They were as stubborn as their people of long ago had been. Those people didn’t trust in the Lord their God.They refused to obey his rules. They broke the covenant he had made with them. They didn’t pay any attention to the rules he had warned them to keep. They worshiped worthless statues of gods. Then they themselves became worthless. They followed the example of the nations around them. They did it even though the Lord had ordered them not to. He had said,“ Do not do as they do.”They turned away from all the commands of the Lord their God. They made two statues of gods for themselves. The statues were shaped like calves. They made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. They bowed down to all the stars. And they worshiped the god named Baal.They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced all kinds of evil magic. They gave up following God’s rules. They did only what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. All these things made him very angry.So the Lord was very angry with Israel. He removed them from his land. Only the tribe of Judah was left.And even Judah didn’t obey the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had started.So the Lord turned his back on all the people of Israel. He made them suffer. He handed them over to people who stole everything they had. And finally he threw them out of his land.The Lord took control of Israel away from the royal house of David. The Israelites made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, their king. Jeroboam tried to get Israel to stop following the Lord. He caused them to commit a terrible sin.The Israelites were stubborn. They continued to commit all the sins Jeroboam had committed. They didn’t turn away from them.So the Lord removed them from his land. That’s what he had warned them he would do. He had given that warning through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken away from their country. They were forced to go to Assyria. And that’s where they still are.

How terrible it will be for Jerusalem! Its people crush others. They refuse to obey the Lord. They are“ unclean.”They don’t obey anyone. They don’t accept the Lord’ s warnings. They don’t trust in him. They don’t ask their God for his help.Jerusalem’s officials are like roaring lions. Their rulers are like wolves that hunt in the evening. They don’t leave anything to eat in the morning.Their prophets care about nothing. They can’t be trusted. Their priests make the temple“ unclean.” They break the law they teach others to obey.

It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned. Her priests had done evil things. All of them spilled the blood of those who did what was right.Now those prophets and priests have to feel their way along the streets as if they were blind. The blood of those they killed has made them“ unclean.” So no one dares to touch their clothes.

“ Son of man, are you going to judge Jerusalem? Will you judge this city that has so many murderers in it? Then tell its people they have done many evil things. I hate those things.Tell them,‘ The Lord and King says,“ Your city brings death on itself. You spill blood inside its walls. You make yourselves‘ unclean’ by making statues of gods.You are guilty of spilling blood. Your statues have made you‘ unclean.’ You have brought your days to a close. The end of your years has come. So the nations will make fun of you. All the countries will laugh at you.Those who are near you will tell jokes about you. So will those who are far away. Trouble fills the streets of your sinful city.“‘ “The princes of Israel are in your city. All of them use their power to spill blood.They have made fun of fathers and mothers alike. They have crushed outsiders. They have treated badly the children whose fathers have died. They have done the same thing to widows.You have looked down on the holy things that were set apart to me. You have misused my Sabbath days.You have spread lies about others so you can spill someone’s blood. You eat at the mountain temples. You commit impure acts.You bring shame on your fathers by having sex with their wives. You have sex with women during their monthly period. That is when they are‘ unclean.’One of you has sex with another man’s wife. I hate that sin. Another brings shame on his daughter- in- law by having sex with her. Still another has sex with his sister, even though she is his own father’s daughter.You accept money from people who want special favors. You do this to spill someone’s blood. You charge interest to poor people when you lend them money. You make money from them. You get rich by cheating your neighbors. And you have forgotten me,” announces the Lord and King.

But your sins have separated you from your God. They have caused him to turn his face away from you. So he won’t listen to you.Your hands and fingers are stained with blood. You are guilty of committing murder. Your mouth has told lies. Your tongue says evil things.People aren’t fair when they present cases in court. They aren’t honest when they state their case. They depend on weak arguments. They tell lies. They plan to make trouble. Then they carry it out.The plans they make are like the eggs of poisonous snakes. Anyone who eats those eggs will die. When one of them is broken, a snake comes out.Those people weave their evil plans together like a spider’s web. But the webs they make can’t be used as clothes. They can’t cover themselves with what they make. Their acts are evil. They do things to harm others.They are always in a hurry to sin. They run quickly to murder those who aren’t guilty. They love to think up evil plans. They leave a trail of harmful actions.They don’t know how to live at peace with others. What they do isn’t fair. They lead twisted lives. No one who lives like that will enjoy peace and rest.

How terrible it will be for this sinful nation! They are loaded down with guilt. They are people who do nothing but evil. They are children who are always sinning. They have deserted the Lord. They have turned against the Holy One of Israel. They have turned their backs on him.

They are very good at doing what is evil. Rulers require gifts. Judges accept money from people who want special favors. Those who are powerful always get what they want. All of them make evil plans together.The best of these people are as harmful as thorns. The most honest of them are even worse. God has come to punish you. The time your prophets warned you about has come. Panic has taken hold of you.