Woe to the rebellious children! This is the Lord’s declaration. They carry out a plan, but not mine; they make an alliance, but against my will, piling sin on top of sin.
I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, though they are a rebellious house.’
He said to me, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this day.
When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, “I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.” This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.
Then the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night over the entire site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies. For there will be a canopy over all the glory,
Now they continue to sin and make themselves a cast image, idols skilfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say about them, ‘Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.’
For you said, ‘We have made a covenant with Death, and we have an agreement with Sheol; when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, it will not touch us, because we have made falsehood our refuge and have hidden behind treachery.’
When they say to you, ‘Enquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,’ shouldn’t a people enquire of their God? Should they enquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
‘Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place.
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love graft and chase after bribes. They do not defend the rights of the fatherless, and the widow’s case never comes before them.
‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king, who is sending you to enquire of me: “Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.
Now speak a parable to the rebellious house. Tell them, “This is what the Lord God says: Put the pot on the fire – put it on, and then pour water into it!
It will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, drawing attention to their iniquity of turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.” ’
Now look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.
Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and they do not seek the Lord.
Now what will you gain by travelling along the way to Egypt to drink the water of the Nile? What will you gain by travelling along the way to Assyria to drink the water of the Euphrates?