1. It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me.
2. Then the Lord spoke to me.
3. “Mortal man,” he said, “speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: you have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.
4. “Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did.