2. Then came the word of the Lord to me, saying,
3. Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!
4. Will you judge them, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge them? Then cause them to know, understand, and realize the abominations of their fathers. [Matt. 23:29-33; Acts 7:51, 52.]
5. And say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand and swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,
6. On that day I lifted up My hand and swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, [a land] which is an ornament and a glory to all lands.
7. Then said I to them, Let every man cast away the abominable things on which he feasts his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
8. But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me; they did not every man cast away the abominable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I [thought], I will pour out My wrath upon them and finish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9. But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
10. So I caused them to go out from the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11. And I gave them My statutes and showed and made known to them My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must live in and by them.
12. Moreover, also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might understand and realize that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them [separates and sets them apart].