Study Desk

"Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked," says the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn [away] from his [malevolent] acts and live?

"But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits sin and acts in accordance with all the repulsive things that the wicked man does, will he live? All of his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered because of the treachery that he has committed and for his sin which he has committed; for them he shall die.

"When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits sin and dies because of it, it is for his sin which he has committed that he dies.

"Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one in accordance with his conduct," says the Lord GOD. "Repent (change your way of thinking) and turn away from all your transgressions, so that sin may not become a stumbling block to you.

'He destroyed their palaces And he flattened their cities; And the land and all who were in it were appalled By the sound of his roaring.

'They put him in a cage with hooks and chains And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel.

'But the vine was uprooted in [godly] wrath [by His representative] And it was thrown down to the ground; The east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branch was broken off So that it withered; The fire [of God's judgment] consumed it.

"Then I said to them, 'Let every man throw away the detestable things on which he feasts his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.'

"I will make you pass under the rod [as the shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and constrain you] and bring you into the bond of the covenant [to which you are permanently bound].

"As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD, "Go, let everyone serve his idols; but later you shall most certainly listen to Me, and you shall no longer profane My holy name with your gifts and with your idols.

"In his right hand is the lot marked for Jerusalem: to set battering rams, to open the mouth calling for destruction, to lift up the voice with a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to put up assault ramps, and to build siege walls.

"Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood in you.

"In you one has committed a shameful act with his neighbor's wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another has violated his sister, his father's daughter.

"He will direct the [shocking] blow of his battering rams against your walls, and he will tear down your towers with his crowbars.

"Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

"With the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar will trample all your streets; with the sword he will kill your people, and your strong pillars (obelisks) will fall to the ground.

"Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, [Boastfully] declaring, 'My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.'

"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army work hard [at My command] against Tyre; every [soldier's] head became bald and every shoulder was worn and peeled [from carrying loads of dirt and stones for siege works]. Yet he had no wages from Tyre [in proportion to the time and labor expended during the siege], either for himself or his army, for the work that he had done against it [for Me]."

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army.