| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. | 1Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. |
| 2And the word of the LORD came to me: | 2Then the word of the LORD came to me: " |
| 3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? | 3Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put sinful stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?" |
| 4Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, | 4Therefore, speak to them and tell them: This is what the Lord GOD says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart, puts a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him appropriately. I will answer him according to his many idols, |
| 5that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. | 5so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from Me because of their idols." |
| 6“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. | 6Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord GOD says: Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things. |
| 7For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the LORD will answer him myself. | 7For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel separates himself from Me, setting up idols in his heart and putting a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I, Yahweh, will answer him Myself. |
| 8And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the LORD. | 8I will turn against that one and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am Yahweh." |
| 9And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. | 9But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, Yahweh, who deceived that prophet. I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. |
| 10And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— | 10They will bear their punishment--the punishment of the one who inquires will be the same as that of the prophet-- |
| 11that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord GOD.” | 11in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God." This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. |
| 12And the word of the LORD came to me: | 12The word of the LORD came to me: " |
| 13“Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, | 13Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both man and animal from it, |
| 14even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. | 14even if these three men--Noah, Daniel, and Job--were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness." This is the declaration of the Lord GOD." |
| 15“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, | 15If I allow dangerous animals to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals, |
| 16even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. | 16even if these three men were in it, as I live"--the declaration of the Lord GOD--"they could not deliver their sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate." |
| 17“Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, | 17Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out both man and animal from it, |
| 18though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered. | 18even if these three men were in it, as I live"--the declaration of the Lord GOD--"they could not deliver their sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered." |
| 19“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, | 19Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both man and animal from it, |
| 20even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. | 20even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live"--the declaration of the Lord GOD--"they could not deliver their son or daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness." |
| 21“For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! | 21For this is what the Lord GOD says: How much worse will it be when I send My four devastating judgments against Jerusalem--sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague--in order to wipe out both man and animal from it! |
| 22But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. | 22Even so, there will be survivors left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. Indeed, they will come out to you, and you will observe their conduct and actions. Then you will be consoled about the devastation I have brought on Jerusalem, about all I have brought on it. |
| 23They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord GOD.” | 23They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done what I did to it." This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. |
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