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Rh the Lord, I will not be inquired of by you; and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all; in that ye say: We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. As I live, saith the Lord, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I be king over you; and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord : Go ye, serve every one his idols, even because ye will not hearken unto Me; but My holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols. For in My holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve Me in the land; there will I accept them, and there will I require your heave-offerings, and the first of your gifts, with all your holy things. With your sweet savour will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. And ye shall know that I am the, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up My hand to give unto your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have polluted yourselves; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the, when I have wrought with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord .’

And the word of the came unto me, saying: ’Son of man, set thy face toward the South, and preach toward the South, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South; and say to the forest of the South: Hear the word of the : Thus saith the Lord : Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree, it shall not be quenched, even a flaming flame; and all faces from the south to the north shall be seared thereby. all flesh shall see that I the have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.’ Then said I: ‘Ah Lord ! they say of me: Is he not a maker of parables?’

Then the word of the came unto me, saying: ’Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel; say to the land of Israel: Thus saith the : Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north; and all flesh shall know that I the have drawn forth My