Idolaters Condemned
1Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
6“Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
7“ ‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. 8I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9“ ‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 10They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ ”
Jerusalem’s Judgment Inescapable
12The word of the Lord came to me: 13“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, 14even if these three men—Noah, Daniel14:14 Or Danel, a man of renown in ancient literature; also in verse 20 and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15“Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, 16as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
17“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, 18as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, 20as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
21“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! 22Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. 23You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
ባዕድ አምልኮ ተከታዮች መወገዛቸው
1ከእስራኤል ሽማግሌዎች አንዳንዶቹ ወደ እኔ መጥተው በፊቴ ተቀመጡ። 2የእግዚአብሔርም ቃል እንዲህ ሲል ወደ እኔ መጣ፤ 3“የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ እነዚህ ሰዎች ጣዖቶቻቸውን በልባቸው አኑረዋል፤ ክፋታቸውን እንደ ማሰናከያ ድንጋይ በፊታቸው አስቀምጠዋል፤ ታዲያ ከእኔ እንዳች ነገር እንዲጠይቁ ልፍቀድላቸውን? 4ስለዚህ እንዲህ ብለህ ንገራቸው፤ ‘ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ማንኛውም እስራኤላዊ ጣዖትን በልቡ አኑሮ፣ ክፋቱንም የማሰናከያ ድንጋይ አድርጎ በፊቱ በማስቀመጥ ወደ ነቢይ ቢመጣ፣ እኔ እግዚአብሔር እንደ ጣዖቱ ብዛት እመልስለታለሁ። 5በጣዖቶቻቸው ምክንያት ከእኔ የተለዩትን የእስራኤልን ቤት ሁሉ ልብ ወደ ራሴ ለመመለስ ይህን አደርጋለሁ።’
6“ስለዚህ ለእስራኤል ቤት እንዲህ በል፤ ‘ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ “ንስሓ ግቡ ከጣዖቶቻችሁ ተመለሱ፤ ጸያፍ ተግባራችሁንም ሁሉ ተዉ።”
7“ ‘ማንኛውም እስራኤላዊ ወይም በእስራኤል የሚኖር ማንኛውም መጻተኛ ራሱን ከእኔ በመለየት ጣዖቶችን በልቡ አኑሮ፣ ክፋቱንም የማሰናከያ ድንጋይ በማድረግ በፊቱ አስቀምጦ ከእኔ ለመጠየቅ ወደ ነቢይ ቢመጣ፣ እኔ ራሴ እግዚአብሔር እመልስለታለሁ። 8ፊቴን በክፋት ወደዚያ ሰው እመልሳለሁ፤ መቀጣጫና መተረቻ አደርገዋለሁ፤ ከሕዝቤም መካከል አስወግደዋለሁ፤ በዚያን ጊዜ እኔ እግዚአብሔር እንደ ሆንሁ ታውቃላችሁ።
9“ ‘ነቢዩ ትንቢት ይናገር ዘንድ ቢታለል፣ ያንን ነቢይ ያታለልሁ እኔ እግዚአብሔር ነኝ፤ ክንዴን በእርሱ ላይ አነሣለሁ፤ ከሕዝቤ ከእስራኤል መካከልም አጠፋዋለሁ። 10በደላቸው በራሳቸው ላይ ይሆናል፤ ነቢዩም እርሱን ሊጠይቀው ከመጣው ሰው ጋር እኩል በደለኛ ይሆናል። 11ከእንግዲህ የእስራኤል ሕዝብ መንገድ ስቶ ከእኔ አይለይም፤ ተመልሶም በኀጢአቱ ሁሉ ራሱን አያረክስም። እነርሱ ሕዝቤ ይሆናሉ፤ እኔም አምላካቸው እሆናለሁ፤ ይላል ጌታ እግዚአብሔር።’ ”
የማያመልጡት ፍርድ
12የእግዚአብሔር ቃል እንዲህ ሲል ወደ እኔ መጣ፤ 13“የሰው ልጅ ሆይ፤ አንድ አገር በእኔ ባለመታመን ቢበድለኝና እኔም እጄን በላዩ ዘርግቼ የምግብ ምንጩን ባደርቅ፣ ራብንም አምጥቼበት ሰውንና እንስሳቱን ብገድል፣ 14ኖኅ፣ ዳንኤልና14፥14 የዕብራይስጡን ቃል አጻጻፍ ስንመለከት ነቢዩን ዳንኤልን ሳይሆን፣ ተመሳሳይ ስም ያለውን ሌላ ሰው የሚያመለክት ይመስላል ኢዮብ እነዚህ ሦስቱ በዚያ ቢኖሩ እንኳ፣ በጽድቃቸው የሚያድኑት ራሳቸውን ብቻ ነው፤ ይላል ጌታ እግዚአብሔር።
15“የዱር አራዊትንም በአገሪቱ ላይ ሰድጄ፣ አገሪቱን ሕፃናት አልባ ቢያደርጓትና ከአራዊቱም የተነሣ ምድሪቱ ሰው እስከማያልፍባት ባድማ ብትሆን፣ 16‘በሕያውነቴ እምላለሁ!’ ይላል ጌታ እግዚአብሔር፤ እነዚህ ሦስቱ ሰዎች ቢኖሩባት እንኳ፣ ወንዶች ወይም ሴቶች ልጆቻቸውን ማዳን አይችሉም፤ እነርሱ ብቻ ይድናሉ፤ ምድሪቱ ግን ባድማ ትሆናለች።
17“ሰይፍን በአገሪቱ ላይ አምጥቼ፣ ‘ሰይፍ በዚህ ምድር ይለፍ’ ብል፣ ሰውንና እንስሳን ባጠፋ፣ 18በሕያውነቴ እምላለሁ ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ እነዚህ ሦስት ሰዎች ቢኖሩባትም እንኳ ራሳቸው ብቻ ይድናሉ እንጂ ወንዶች ወይም ሴቶች ልጆቻቸውን ማዳን አይችሉም።
19“ቸነፈርንም በምድሪቱ ላይ ብሰድድና ደም በማፍሰስ መዓቴን አውርጄ ሰውንና እንስሳን ባጠፋ፣ 20በሕያውነቴ እምላለሁ ይላል ጌታ እግዚአብሔር፤ ኖኅ፣ ዳንኤልና ኢዮብ ቢኖሩባትም እንኳ፣ በጽድቃቸው ራሳቸውን ብቻ ያድናሉ እንጂ ወንዶችን ወይም ሴቶች ልጆቻቸውን አያድኑም።
21“ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላልና፤ ‘ሰውንና እንስሳቱን ለማጥፋት አራቱን አስፈሪ ፍርዶቼን፦ ሰይፍን፣ ራብን፣ የዱር አራዊትንና ቸነፈርን በኢየሩሳሌም ላይ በማመጣበት ጊዜ ምንኛ የከፋ ይሆን! 22ነገር ግን ከዚያ ወጥተው የሚተርፉ ወንዶችና ሴቶች ልጆች አሉ፤ እነርሱም ወደ እናንተ ይመጣሉ፤ እናንተም አካሄዳቸውንና ተግባራቸውን በምታዩበት ጊዜ፣ በኢየሩሳሌም ላይ ስላመጣሁት መከራ፣ ስላደረስሁባትም አስከፊ ነገር ሁሉ ትጽናናላችሁ። 23አካሄዳቸውንና ተግባራቸውን በምታዩበት ጊዜ፣ ትጽናናላችሁ፤ አንዳች ነገር በከንቱ እንዳላደረገሁ ትረዳላችሁና፤ ይላል ጌታ እግዚአብሔር።’ ”
