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New Living Translation |   | |
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| | Eze 20:1 | On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the LORD. They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply.
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| | Eze 20:2 | Then this message came to me from the LORD:
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| | Eze 20:3 | "Son of man, give the leaders of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: How dare you come to ask for my help? As surely as I live, I will tell you nothing. This is the word of the Sovereign LORD!
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| | Eze 20:4 | "Son of man, bring judgment against them and condemn them. Make them realize how loathsome the actions of their ancestors really were.
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| | Eze 20:5 | Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: When I chose Israel and revealed myself to her in Egypt, I swore that I, the LORD, would be her God.
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| | Eze 20:6 | I promised that I would bring her and her descendants out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them--a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.
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| | Eze 20:7 | Then I said to them, 'Each of you, get rid of your idols. Do not defile yourselves with the Egyptian gods, for I am the LORD your God.'
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| | Eze 20:8 | "But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of their idols or forsake the gods of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt.
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| | Eze 20:9 | But I didn't do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name. That way the surrounding nations wouldn't be able to laugh at Israel's God, who had promised to deliver his people.
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| | Eze 20:10 | So I brought my people out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness.
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| | Eze 20:11 | There I gave them my laws so they could live by keeping them. Yes, all those who keep them will live!
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| | Eze 20:12 | And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I, the LORD, had set them apart to be holy, making them my special people.
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| | Eze 20:13 | "But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my laws there in the wilderness. They wouldn't obey my instructions even though obedience would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the desert.
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| | Eze 20:14 | But again I held back in order to protect the honor of my name. That way the nations who saw me lead my people out of Egypt wouldn't be able to claim I destroyed them because I couldn't take care of them.
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| | Eze 20:15 | But I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth.
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| | Eze 20:16 | I told them this because they had rejected my laws, ignored my will for them, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols.
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| | Eze 20:17 | Nevertheless, I pitied them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness.
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| | Eze 20:18 | "Then I warned their children and told them not to follow in their parents' footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.
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| | Eze 20:19 | 'I am the LORD your God,' I told them. 'Follow my laws, pay attention to my instructions,
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| | Eze 20:20 | and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.'
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| | Eze 20:21 | "But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my laws and follow my instructions, even though obeying them would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness.
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| | Eze 20:22 | Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.
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| | Eze 20:23 | But I took a solemn oath against them while they were in the wilderness. I vowed I would scatter them among all the nations
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| | Eze 20:24 | because they did not obey my laws. They scorned my instructions by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors.
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| | Eze 20:25 | I gave them over to worthless customs and laws that would not lead to life.
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| | Eze 20:26 | I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods--so I might devastate them and show them that I alone am the LORD.
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| | Eze 20:27 | "Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me,
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| | Eze 20:28 | for when I brought them into the land I had promised them, they offered sacrifices and incense on every high hill and under every green tree they saw! They roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their drink offerings to them!
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| | Eze 20:29 | I said to them, 'What is this high place where you are going?' (This idol shrine has been called Bamah--'high place'--ever since.)
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| | Eze 20:30 | "Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping detestable idols?
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| | Eze 20:31 | For when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as sacrifices, you continue to pollute yourselves to this day. Should I listen to you or help you, O people of Israel? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will not give you a message even though you have come to me requesting one.
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| | Eze 20:32 | "You say, 'We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.' But what you have in mind will never happen.
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| | Eze 20:33 | As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will rule you with an iron fist in great anger and with awesome power.
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| | Eze 20:34 | With might and fury I will bring you out from the lands where you are scattered.
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| | Eze 20:35 | I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will judge you face to face.
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| | Eze 20:36 | I will judge you there just as I did your ancestors in the wilderness after bringing them out of Egypt, says the Sovereign LORD.
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| | Eze 20:37 | I will count you carefully and hold you to the terms of the covenant.
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| | Eze 20:38 | I will purge you of all those who rebel and sin against me. I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile, but they will never enter the land of Israel. And when that happens, you will know that I am the LORD.
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| | Eze 20:39 | "As for you, O people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: If you insist, go right ahead and worship your idols, but then don't turn around and bring gifts to me. Such desecration of my holy name must stop!
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| | Eze 20:40 | For on my holy mountain, says the Sovereign LORD, the people of Israel will someday worship me, and I will accept them. There I will require that you bring me all your offerings and choice gifts and sacrifices.
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| | Eze 20:41 | When I bring you home from exile, you will be as pleasing to me as an offering of perfumed incense. And I will display my holiness in you as all the nations watch.
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| | Eze 20:42 | Then when I have brought you home to the land I promised your ancestors, you will know that I am the LORD.
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| | Eze 20:43 | You will look back at all your sins and hate yourselves because of the evil you have done.
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| | Eze 20:44 | You will know that I am the LORD, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness, says the Sovereign LORD."
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| | Eze 20:45 | Then this message came to me from the LORD:
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| | Eze 20:46 | "Son of man, look toward the south and speak out against it; prophesy against the fields of the Negev.
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| | Eze 20:47 | Give the southern wilderness this message from the Sovereign LORD: Hear the word of the LORD! I will set you on fire, O forest, and every tree will be burned--green and dry trees alike. The terrible flames will not be quenched; they will scorch everything from south to north.
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| | Eze 20:48 | And all the world will see that I, the LORD, have set this fire. It will not be put out."
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| | Eze 20:49 | Then I said, "O Sovereign LORD, they are saying of me, 'He only talks in riddles!' "
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