1And men from [the] elderly of Israel come to me, and sit before me. 2And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, 3“Son of man, these men have caused their idols to go up on their heart, and they have put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their faces; am I inquired of at all by them? 4Therefore, speak with them, and you have said to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: Everyone of the house of Israel who causes his idols to go up to his heart, and sets the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and has gone to the prophet—I, YHWH, have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols, 5in order to catch the house of Israel by their heart, in that they have become estranged from off Me by their idols—all of them.

6Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus said Lord YHWH: Turn back, indeed, turn back from your idols, and turn back your faces from all your abominations, 7for everyone of the house of Israel, and of the sojourners who sojourn in Israel, who is separated from after Me, and causes his idols to go up to his heart, and sets the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and has come to the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, YHWH, have answered him for Myself; 8and I have set My face against that man, and made him for a sign, and for allegories, and I have cut him off from the midst of My people, and you have known that I [am] YHWH.

9And the prophet, when he is enticed, and has spoken a word—I, YHWH, have enticed that prophet, and have stretched out My hand against him, and have destroyed him from the midst of My people Israel. 10And they have borne their iniquity: as the iniquity of the inquirer, so is the iniquity of the prophet; 11so that the house of Israel does not wander from after Me anymore, nor are they defiled with all their transgressions anymore, and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God—a declaration of Lord YHWH.”

12And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, 13“Son of man, when the land sins against Me to commit a trespass, and I have stretched out My hand against it, and broken the staff of bread for it, and sent famine into it, and cut off man and beast from it— 14and [despite] these three men [that] have been in its midst: Noah, Daniel, and Job—they [only] deliver their own soul by their righteousness,” a declaration of Lord YHWH. 15“If I cause an evil beast to pass through the land, and it has bereaved, and it has been a desolation, without any passing through because of the beast— 16[despite] these three men in its midst—[as] I live,” a declaration of Lord YHWH, “they deliver neither sons nor daughters; they alone are delivered, and the land is a desolation. 17Or [if] I bring a sword in against that land, and I have said: Sword, pass over through the land, and I have cut off man and beast from it— 18and [despite] these three men in its midst—[as] I live,” a declaration of Lord YHWH, “they do not deliver sons and daughters, for they alone are delivered. 19Or [if] I send pestilence to that land, and I have poured out My fury against it in blood, to cut off man and beast from it— 20and [despite] Noah, Daniel, and Job, in its midst—[as] I live,” a declaration of Lord YHWH, “they deliver neither son nor daughter; they, by their righteousness, [only] deliver their own soul.”

21For thus said Lord YHWH: “Although My four severe judgments—sword, and famine, and wild beast, and pestilence—I have sent to Jerusalem, to cut off man and beast from it, 22yet, behold, there has been left an escape in it, who are brought forth, sons and daughters, behold, they are coming forth to you, and you have seen their way, and their doings, and have been comforted concerning the calamity that I have brought in against Jerusalem, all that which I have brought in against it. 23And they have comforted you, for you see their way and their doings, and you have known that I have not done all that which I have done in her for nothing,” a declaration of Lord YHWH.