Ezekiel 33:21-33

In the eleventh year of our captivity, on the fifth day of the tenth month, one who escaped from Jerusalem arrived and informed me: “The city has been taken.” Now the evening before the survivor arrived, the mighty hand of YAHWEH had rested on me, and my speech was fully restored before he came to me in the morning—I could speak again. Then YAHWEH said to me, “Son of man, the people who are living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man when he took possession of the land, but we are many. Certainly, we can possess this land and rebuild.’ “Now give the people this message, ‘Lord YAHWEH says to you: Do you really think you can take ownership of the land? You are evildoers! You murder others, you eat meat with blood, and you worship your foul idols. You rely on your swords, you engage in despicable pagan practices, and you are all adulterers. Do you really think I will give the ownership of the land to you?’ “Tell them that I, Lord YAHWEH, solemnly warn them: As surely as I exist, those living in the ruined towns will fall by the sword, those in the countryside I will give to the wild animals for them to eat, and those among the crags and in caves will die from disease. I will turn the land into a total wasteland, and I will put an end to their arrogant power. Israel’s mountains will be so deserted that no one will pass that way again. Then they will know that I am YAHWEH, when I turn the land into a barren desert because of all the filthy things they have done.” “As for you, son of man, your fellow citizens are talking about you beside the walls and in the doorways of their homes. They keep saying to one another, ‘Let’s go hear what YAHWEH has to say.’ They all flock to you to sit at your feet as my people. They listen to your words, but they will not act on them. Instead, they express genuine devotion to YAHWEH, but their hearts are set on cheating others. As far as they are concerned, you are like an entertainer who sings a love song with a beautiful voice to a good musical accompaniment. They hear what you say, but no one will do it. When all your prophecies come true —and they are beginning to be fulfilled now—they will know that there has been a true prophet among them.”