The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 542

12:28. Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: not one word of mine shall be prolonged any more: the word that I shall speak shall be accomplished, saith the Lord G.o.d.

Ezechiel Chapter 13

G.o.d declares against false prophets and prophetesses, that deceive the people with lies.

13:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

13:2. Son of man, prophesy thou against the prophets of Israel that prophesy: and thou shalt say to them that prophesy out of their own heart: Hear ye the word of the Lord:

13:3. Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Woe to the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit, and see nothing.

13:4. Thy prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.

13:5. You have not gone up to face the enemy, nor have you set up a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in battle in the day of the Lord.

13:6. They see vain things, and they foretell lies, saying: The Lord saith: whereas the Lord hath not sent them: and they have persisted to confirm what they have said.

13:7. Have you not seen a vain vision and spoken a lying divination: and you say: The Lord saith: whereas I have not spoken.

13:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Because you have spoken vain things, and have seen lies: therefore behold I come against you, saith the Lord G.o.d.

13:9. And my hand shall be upon the prophets that see vain things, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord G.o.d.

13:10. Because they have deceived my people, saying: Peace, and there is no peace: and the people built up a wall, and they daubed it with dirt without straw.

13:11. Say to them that daub without tempering, that it shall fall: for there shall be an overflowing shower, and I will cause great hailstones to fall violently from above, and a stormy wind to throw it down.

13:12. Behold, when the wall is fallen: shall it not be said to you: Where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed it?

13:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Lo, I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in my indignation, and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger: and great hailstones in my wrath to consume.

13:14. And I will break down the wall that you have daubed with untempered mortar: and I will make it even with the ground, and the foundation thereof shall be laid bare: and it shall fall, and shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

13:15. And I will accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that daub it without tempering the mortar, and I will say to you: The wall is no more, and they that daub it are no more.

13:16. Even the prophets of Israel that prophesy to Jerusalem, and that see visions of peace for her: and there is no peace, saith the Lord G.o.d.

13:17. And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people that prophesy out of their own heart: and do thou prophesy against them,

13:18. And say: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Woe to them that sew cus.h.i.+ons under every elbow: and make pillows for the heads of persons of every age to catch souls: and when they caught the souls of my people, they gave life to their souls.

Sew cus.h.i.+ons, etc... Viz., by making people easy in their sins, and promising them impunity.-Ibid. They gave life to their souls... That is, they flattered them with promises of life, peace, and security.

13:19. And they violated me among my people, for a handful of barley, and a piece of bread, to kill souls which should not die, and to save souls alive which should not live, telling lies to my people that believe lies.

Violated me... That is, dishonoured and discredited me. Ibid. To kill souls, etc... That is, to sentence souls to death, which are not to die; and to promise life to them who are not to live.

13:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Behold I declare against your cus.h.i.+ons, wherewith you catch flying souls: and I will tear them off from your arms: and I will let go the soul that you catch, the souls that should fly.

13:21. And I will tear your pillows, and will deliver my people out of your hand, neither shall they be any more in your hands to be a prey: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

13:22. Because with lies you have made the heart of the just to mourn, whom I have not made sorrowful: and have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his evil way, and live.

13:23. Therefore you shall not see vain things, nor divine divinations any more, and I will deliver my people out of your hand: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezechiel Chapter 14

G.o.d suffers the wicked to be deceived in punishment of their wickedness.

The evils that shall come upon them for their sins: for which they shall not be delivered by the prayers of Noe, Daniel, and Job. But a remnant shall be preserved.

14:1. And some of the ancients of Israel came to me, and sat before me.

14:2. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

14:3. Son of man, these men have placed their uncleannesses in their hearts, and have set up before their face the stumblingblock of their iniquity: and shall I answer when they inquire of me?

Uncleanness... That is, their filthy idols, upon which they have set their hearts: and which are a stumblingblock to their souls.

14:4. Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Man, man of the house of Israel that shall place his uncleannesses in his heart, and set up the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet inquiring of me by him: I the Lord will answer him according to the mult.i.tude of his uncleannesses:

Man, man... That is, every man, an Hebrew expression.

14:5. That the house of Israel may be caught in their own heart, with which they have departed from me through all their idols.

14:6. Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Be converted, and depart from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

14:7. For every man of the house of Israel, and every stranger among the proselytes in Israel, if he separate himself from me, and place his idols in his heart, and set the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and come to the prophet to inquire of me by him: I the Lord will answer him by myself.

14:8. And I will set my face against that man, and will make him an example, and a proverb, and will cut him off from the midst of my people: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

14:9. And when the prophet shall err, and speak a word: I the Lord have deceived that prophet: and I will stretch forth my hand upon him, and will cut him off from the midst of my people Israel.

The prophet shall err, etc... He speaks of false prophets, answering out of their own heads and according to their own corrupt inclinations.

Ibid. I have deceived that prophet... G.o.d Almighty deceives false prophets, partly by withdrawing his light from them; and abandoning them to their own corrupt inclinations, which push them on to prophesy such things as are agreeable to those who consult them: and partly by disappointing them, and causing all thing to happen contrary to what they have said.

14:10. And they shall bear their iniquity: according to the iniquity of him that inquireth, so shall the iniquity of the prophet be.

14:11. That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, nor be polluted with all their transgressions: but may be my people, and I may be their G.o.d, saith the Lord of hosts.

14:12. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

14:13. Son of man, when a land shall sin against me, so as to transgress grievously, I will stretch forth my hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof: and I will send famine upon it, and will destroy man and beast out of it.

14:14. And if these three men, Noe, Daniel, and Job, shall be in it: they shall deliver their own souls by their justice, saith the Lord of hosts.

14:15. And if I shall bring mischievous beasts also upon the land to waste it, and it be desolate, so that there is none that can pa.s.s because of the beasts:

14:16. If these three men shall be in it, as I live, saith the Lord, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters: but they only shall be delivered, and the land shall be made desolate.