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Ezekiel 14 - Good News Bible bible

Ezekiel 14

¹Some of the leaders of the Israelites came to consult me about the LORD's will.

²Then the LORD spoke to me.

³"Mortal man,"he said, "these men have given their hearts to idols and are letting idols lead them into sin. Do they think I will give them an answer?

⁴"Now speak to them and tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them: Each of you Israelites who have given your heart to idols and let them lead you into sin and who then come to consult a prophet, will get an answer from me---the answer that your many idols deserve!

⁵All those idols have turned the Israelites away from me, but by my answer I hope to win back their loyalty.

⁶"Now then, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: Turn back and leave your disgusting idols.

⁷"Whenever one of you Israelites or one of you foreigners who live in the Israelite community turn away from me and worship idols, and then go to consult a prophet, I, the LORD, will give you your answer!

⁸I will oppose you. I will make an example of you. I will remove you from the community of my people, so that all of you will know that I am the LORD.

⁹"If any prophets are deceived into giving a false answer, it is because I, the LORD, have deceived them. I will remove them from the people of Israel.

¹⁰Both prophets and anyone who consults them will get the same punishment.

¹¹I will do this to keep the Israelites from deserting me and defiling themselves by their sins. They are to be my people, and I will be their God." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

¹²The LORD spoke to me.

¹³"Mortal man,"he said, "if a country sins and is unfaithful to me, I will reach out and destroy its supply of food. I will send a famine and kill people and animals alike.

¹⁴Even if those three men, Noah, Danel, and Job, were living there, their goodness would save only their own lives." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

¹⁵"Or I might send wild animals to kill the people, making the land so dangerous that no one could travel through it,

¹⁶and even if those three men lived there---as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD, am the living God---they would not be able to save even their own children. They would save only their own lives, and the land would become a wilderness.

¹⁷"Or I might bring war on that country and send destructive weapons to wipe out people and animals alike,

¹⁸and even if those three men lived there---as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD, am the living God---they would not be able to save even their children, but only their own lives.

¹⁹"If I send an epidemic on that country and in my anger take many lives, killing people and animals,

²⁰even if Noah, Danel, and Job lived there---as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD, am the living God---they would not be able to save even their own children. Their goodness would save only their own lives."

²¹This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: "I will send my four worst punishments on Jerusalem---war, famine, wild animals, and disease---to destroy people and animals alike.

²²If some survive and save their children, look at them when they come to you. See how evil they are, and be convinced that the punishment I am bringing on Jerusalem is justified;

²³then you will know that there was good reason for everything I did." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.