“Are you willing to pronounce judgment? ¹  Are you willing to pronounce judgment, son of man? Then confront them with the abominable practices of their fathers,

I did this ¹  because they did not observe my regulations, they rejected my statutes, they desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on ²  their fathers’ idols.

“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.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers ¹  and engage in prostitution with detestable idols?

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the sovereign Lord.

Then you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I swore ¹  to give to your fathers.

They have treated father and mother with contempt ¹  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ²  within you.

We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ²  and to all the inhabitants ³  of the land as well.

O LORD, we have been humiliated ¹  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.

Even if they raise their children, I will take away every last one of them. ¹  Woe to them! For I will turn away from them.

But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ¹ 

he does not need to honor his father.’ ¹  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.

The girl got up at once and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). They were completely astonished at this. ¹ 

Now ¹  people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, ²  but the disciples scolded those who brought them. ³ 

Now ¹  when the time came for their ²  purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary ³  brought Jesus ⁴  up to Jerusalem ⁵  to present him to the Lord

Now when he came to the house, Jesus ¹  did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, ²  and James, and the child’s father and mother.

Now people ¹  were even bringing their babies ²  to him for him to touch. ³  But when the disciples saw it, they began to scold those who brought them. ⁴ 

But Jesus called for the children, ¹  saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God ²  belongs to such as these. ³ 

They asked the parents, ¹  “Is this your son, whom you say ²  was born blind? Then how does he now see?”

This was the one who exploited ¹  our people ²  and was cruel to our ancestors, ³  forcing them to abandon ⁴  their infants so they would die. ⁵