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Ezekiel 23

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ I have also spoken to [you through] the prophets, And I gave [them] many visions [to make My will known], And through the prophets I gave parables [to appeal to your sense of right and wrong].

² Is there wickedness (idolatry) in Gilead? Surely the people there are worthless. In Gilgal [they defy Me when] they sacrifice bulls, Yes, [after My judgment] their [pagan] altars are like the stone heaps In the furrows of the fields.

³ Now Jacob (Israel) fled into the open country of Aram (Paddan-aram), And [there] Israel (Jacob) worked and served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.

⁴ And by a prophet (Moses) the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, And by a prophet Israel was preserved.

⁵ Ephraim has provoked most bitter anger; So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him [invoking punishment] And bring back to him his shame and dishonor.

⁶ When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror. He exalted himself [above the other tribes] in Israel; But through [the worship of] Baal he became guilty and died [spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel's doom as a nation].

⁷ And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves molten images, Idols skillfully made from their silver [as it pleased them], All of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of these [very works of their hands], "Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the calves [as if they were living gods]!"

⁸ Therefore they will be [swiftly dissipated] like the morning cloud Or like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which swirls with the whirlwind from the threshing floor, And like smoke from the chimney or through the window [worthless and without substance —they will vanish].

⁹ Yet I have been the LORD your God Since [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.

¹⁰ I knew and regarded you and cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.

¹¹ When they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud (self-centered); Therefore they forgot Me.

¹² So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will watch and lie in wait [ready to attack] by the road [to Assyria].

¹³ I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; There I will also devour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them.

¹⁴ It is your destruction, O Israel, Because you are against Me, [and have rebelled] against your help.

¹⁵ Where now is your king That he may save you [when you are attacked] in all your cities? And your judges of whom you asked, "Give me a king and princes"?

¹⁶ I gave you a king in My anger, And I took him away in My wrath [as punishment].

¹⁷ The wickedness of Ephraim [which is not yet completely punished] is bound up [as in a bag]; His sin is stored up [for judgment and destruction].

¹⁸ The pains of childbirth come on him; But he is not a wise son, For it is not the time to delay [his chance at a new birth] as the womb opens [but he ignores the opportunity to change].

¹⁹ Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Shall I redeem them from death? [1] O death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent].

²⁰ For though he flourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes), An east wind (Assyria) will come, The breath of the LORD rising from the desert; And Ephraim's spring will become dry And his fountain will be dried up. Assyria will plunder his treasury of every precious object.

²¹ Samaria will be found guilty [and become desolate], Because she rebelled against her God; They will fall by the sword, Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

²² O Israel, return [in repentance] to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.

²³ Take the words [confessing your guilt] with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all our wickedness; Accept what is good and receive us graciously, So that we may present the fruit of our lips (gratitude).

²⁴ "Assyria will not save us; We will not ride on horses [relying on military might], Nor will we say again to [the idols who are] the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.' For in You [O LORD] the orphan finds love and compassion and mercy."

²⁵ I will heal their apostasy and faithlessness; I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from Israel.

²⁶ I shall be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

²⁷ His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

²⁸ Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

²⁹ O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you. I am like a luxuriant cypress tree; With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].

³⁰ Whoever is [spiritually] wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is [spiritually] discerning and understanding, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble and fall in them.

³¹ The word of the LORD that came to[1] Joel, the son of Pethuel.

³² Hear this, O elders, Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing as this occurred in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?

³³ Tell your children about it, And let your children tell their children, And their children the next generation.

³⁴ What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten [in judgment of Judah].

³⁵ Awake [from your intoxication], you drunkards, and weep; Wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the [fresh] sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth.

³⁶ For a [pagan and hostile] nation has invaded My land [like locusts], Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.

³⁷ It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror, And splintered and broken My fig tree. It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away; Their branches have become white.

³⁸ Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with[2] sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].

³⁹ The [daily] grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the LORD; The priests mourn Who minister to the LORD.

⁴⁰ The field is ruined, The ground mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The fresh oil fails.

⁴¹ Be ashamed, O farmers; Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and for the barley, Because the harvest of the field has perished.

⁴² The vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up, Indeed, joy dries up and withdraws From the sons of men.

⁴³ Clothe yourselves with sackcloth And lament (cry out in grief), O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing], O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.

⁴⁴ Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD [in penitent pleadings].

⁴⁵ Alas for the day! For the [judgment] day of the LORD is at hand, And it will come [upon the nation] as a destruction from the[3] Almighty.

⁴⁶ Has not the food been cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

⁴⁷ The seeds [of grain] shrivel under the clods, The storehouses are desolate and empty, The barns are in ruins Because the grain is dried up.

⁴⁸ How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlessly Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

⁴⁹ O LORD, I cry out to You, For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

#	AMP
1	I have also spoken to [you through] the prophets, And I gave [them] many visions [to make My will known], And through the prophets I gave parables [to appeal to your sense of right and wrong].
2	Is there wickedness (idolatry) in Gilead? Surely the people there are worthless. In Gilgal [they defy Me when] they sacrifice bulls, Yes, [after My judgment] their [pagan] altars are like the stone heaps In the furrows of the fields.
3	Now Jacob (Israel) fled into the open country of Aram (Paddan-aram), And [there] Israel (Jacob) worked and served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.
4	And by a prophet (Moses) the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, And by a prophet Israel was preserved.
5	Ephraim has provoked most bitter anger; So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him [invoking punishment] And bring back to him his shame and dishonor.
6	When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror. He exalted himself [above the other tribes] in Israel; But through [the worship of] Baal he became guilty and died [spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel's doom as a nation].
7	And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves molten images, Idols skillfully made from their silver [as it pleased them], All of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of these [very works of their hands], "Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the calves [as if they were living gods]!"
8	Therefore they will be [swiftly dissipated] like the morning cloud Or like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which swirls with the whirlwind from the threshing floor, And like smoke from the chimney or through the window [worthless and without substance —they will vanish].
9	Yet I have been the LORD your God Since [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.
10	I knew and regarded you and cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.
11	When they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud (self-centered); Therefore they forgot Me.
12	So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will watch and lie in wait [ready to attack] by the road [to Assyria].
13	I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; There I will also devour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them.
14	It is your destruction, O Israel, Because you are against Me, [and have rebelled] against your help.
15	Where now is your king That he may save you [when you are attacked] in all your cities? And your judges of whom you asked, "Give me a king and princes"?
16	I gave you a king in My anger, And I took him away in My wrath [as punishment].
17	The wickedness of Ephraim [which is not yet completely punished] is bound up [as in a bag]; His sin is stored up [for judgment and destruction].
18	The pains of childbirth come on him; But he is not a wise son, For it is not the time to delay [his chance at a new birth] as the womb opens [but he ignores the opportunity to change].
19	Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Shall I redeem them from death? [1] O death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent].
20	For though he flourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes), An east wind (Assyria) will come, The breath of the LORD rising from the desert; And Ephraim's spring will become dry And his fountain will be dried up. Assyria will plunder his treasury of every precious object.
21	Samaria will be found guilty [and become desolate], Because she rebelled against her God; They will fall by the sword, Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.
22	O Israel, return [in repentance] to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.
23	Take the words [confessing your guilt] with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all our wickedness; Accept what is good and receive us graciously, So that we may present the fruit of our lips (gratitude).
24	"Assyria will not save us; We will not ride on horses [relying on military might], Nor will we say again to [the idols who are] the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.' For in You [O LORD] the orphan finds love and compassion and mercy."
25	I will heal their apostasy and faithlessness; I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from Israel.
26	I shall be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
27	His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
28	Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
29	O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you. I am like a luxuriant cypress tree; With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].
30	Whoever is [spiritually] wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is [spiritually] discerning and understanding, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble and fall in them.
31	The word of the LORD that came to[1] Joel, the son of Pethuel.
32	Hear this, O elders, Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing as this occurred in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?
33	Tell your children about it, And let your children tell their children, And their children the next generation.
34	What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten [in judgment of Judah].
35	Awake [from your intoxication], you drunkards, and weep; Wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the [fresh] sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth.
36	For a [pagan and hostile] nation has invaded My land [like locusts], Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.
37	It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror, And splintered and broken My fig tree. It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away; Their branches have become white.
38	Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with[2] sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].
39	The [daily] grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the LORD; The priests mourn Who minister to the LORD.
40	The field is ruined, The ground mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The fresh oil fails.
41	Be ashamed, O farmers; Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and for the barley, Because the harvest of the field has perished.
42	The vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up, Indeed, joy dries up and withdraws From the sons of men.
43	Clothe yourselves with sackcloth And lament (cry out in grief), O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing], O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.
44	Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD [in penitent pleadings].
45	Alas for the day! For the [judgment] day of the LORD is at hand, And it will come [upon the nation] as a destruction from the[3] Almighty.
46	Has not the food been cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
47	The seeds [of grain] shrivel under the clods, The storehouses are desolate and empty, The barns are in ruins Because the grain is dried up.
48	How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlessly Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
49	O LORD, I cry out to You, For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

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