Mercy and Judgment

1. In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, “Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2. ‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, “You were likened to a young lion of the nations; yet you are as a monster in the seas. You broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.” 3. The Lord Yahweh says: “I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they will bring you up in my net. 4. I will leave you on the land. I will cast you out on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you. I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you. 5. I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height. 6. I will also water the land in which you swim with your blood, even to the mountains. The watercourses will be full of you. 7. When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and make its stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon won’t give its light. 8. I will make all the bright lights of the sky dark over you, and set darkness on your land,” says the Lord Yahweh. 9. “I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10. Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid for you, when I brandish my sword before them. They will tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.” 11. For the Lord Yahweh says: “The sword of the king of Babylon will come on you. 12. I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of the mighty. They are all the ruthless of the nations. They will bring the pride of Egypt to nothing, and all its multitude will be destroyed. 13. I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters. The foot of man won’t trouble them any more, nor will the hoofs of animals trouble them. 14. Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil,” says the Lord Yahweh. 15. “When I make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I strike all those who dwell therein, then they will know that I am Yahweh. 16. “ ‘ “This is the lamentation with which they will lament. The daughters of the nations will lament with this. They will lament with it over Egypt, and over all her multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.’ ” 17. Also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 18. “Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. 19. Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. 20. They will fall among those who are slain by the sword. She is delivered to the sword. Draw her away with all her multitudes. 21. The strong among the mighty will speak to him out of the middle of Sheol with those who help him. They have gone down. The uncircumcised lie still, slain by the sword. 22. “Asshur is there with all her company. Her graves are all around her. All of them slain, fallen by the sword; 23. whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. 24. “There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25. They have set her a bed among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put among those who are slain. 26. “There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude. Their graves are around them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27. They will not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 28. “But you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and will lie with those who are slain by the sword. 29. “There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. 30. “There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain. They are put to shame in the terror which they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 31. “Pharaoh will see them, and will be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword,” says the Lord Yahweh. 32. “For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.

33

1. Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2. “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; 3. if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet, and warns the people; 4. then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t heed the warning, if the sword comes, and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn’t take warning. His blood will be on him; whereas if he had heeded the warning, he would have delivered his soul. 6. But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and takes any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ 7. “So you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from me. 8. When I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand. 9. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. 10. “You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: ‘You say this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them. How then can we live?” ’ 11. Tell them, ‘ “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?” ’ 12. “You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins. 13. When I tell the righteous that he will surely live; if he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed. 14. Again, when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die;” if he turns from his sin, and does that which is lawful and right; 15. if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he will surely live. He will not die. 16. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right. He will surely live. 17. “ ‘Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair;” but as for them, their way is not fair. 18. When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he will even die therein. 19. When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he will live by it. 20. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways.’ ” 21. In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!” 22. Now Yahweh’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. 23. Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 24. “Son of man, those who inhabit the waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, ‘Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many. The land is given us for inheritance.’ 25. Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land? 26. You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. So should you possess the land?” ’ 27. “You shall tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give he who is in the open field to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the pestilence. 28. I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through. 29. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’ 30. “As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from Yahweh.’ 31. They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. 32. Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them. 33. “When this comes to pass—behold, it comes—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

1. I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!” 2. The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. 3. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. 4. The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5. I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. 6. For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.” 7. I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.” 8. The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9. People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory. 10. The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, 11. and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn’t repent of their works. 12. The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise. 13. I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; 14. for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty. 15. “Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn’t walk naked, and they see his shame.” 16. He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, “Megiddo”. 17. The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18. There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as has not happened since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, and so mighty. 19. The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20. Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21. Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague is exceedingly severe.