1 ^qIn the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of ^rthe elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, ^sand sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 ^t“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? ^uAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^vI will not be inquired of by you. 4 ^wWill you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? ^xLet them know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^yOn the day when I chose Israel, ^zI swore¹ to the offspring of the house of Jacob, ^amaking myself known to them in the land of Egypt; ^zI swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that ^bI would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^bflowing with milk and honey, ^cthe most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, ^d‘Cast away the detestable things ^eyour eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^fthe idols of Egypt; ^gI am the Lord your God.’ 8 ^hBut they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ⁱNone of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them ^jand spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 ^kBut I acted ^lfor the sake of my name, ^mthat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ⁿin whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 ^oSo I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 ^pI gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^qby which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, I gave them ^rmy Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^sthat they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 ^tBut the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^uThey did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^vand my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^t“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, ^win whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover, ^xI swore to them in the wilderness ^ythat I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land ^zflowing with milk and honey, ^zthe most glorious of all lands,