“Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, ¹  cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

“‘But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty ¹  became his.

“Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.

Cry out and moan, son of man, for it is wielded against my people; against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people. Therefore, strike your thigh. ¹ 

“And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times! It is a sword for slaughter, a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.

“As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; ¹  say: “‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, ²  to flash like lightning –

“As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, ¹  are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? ²  Then confront her with all her abominable deeds!

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; ¹  they are the worthless slag of silver.

“I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ¹ 

“Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, ¹  but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears.

“Son of man, because Tyre ¹  has said about Jerusalem, ²  ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, ³  now that she ⁴  has been destroyed,’

Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you – though you are a man and not a god – when you are in the power of those who wound you?

“Son of man, sing ¹  a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the sealer ²  of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

“Son of man, I have broken the arm ¹  of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ²  Look, it has not been bandaged for healing or set with a dressing so that it might become strong enough to grasp a sword.

“Son of man, wail ¹  over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; ²  bring ³  her ⁴  and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit.

“As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman ¹  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf.

But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ¹  and he refuses to change, ²  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

“But as for you, son of man, your people ¹  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ²  ‘Come hear the word that comes ³  from the Lord.’

“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their behavior ¹  and their deeds. In my sight their behavior was like the uncleanness of a woman having her monthly period.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’