1. And then in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat before me.
2. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
3. “Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Are you coming to consult me? As I live, I will surely not allow myself to be consulted by you!” ’ declares the Lord Yahweh.
4. Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Make known to them the detestable things of their ancestors.
5. And you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of my choosing Israel I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and I swore to them, saying, ‘I am Yahweh your God.’
6. On that day I swore to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands.
7. Then I said to them, ‘Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.’
8. But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one did not throw away the detestable things of their eyes; and they did not abandon the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9. “But I acted for the sake of my name to keep it from being profaned before the eyes of the nations among whom they lived, where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt.
10. And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert,
11. and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them.
12. And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them so they would know that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them.
13. “But in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes, and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them,
14. and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I brought them out.
15. And also I myself swore to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands—
16. because they despised my judgments, and they did not walk in my statutes, and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols.
17. But my eye took pity on them by not destroying them, and I did not completely destroy them in the desert.