18. “And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the laws of your fathers, nor observe their rulings, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19. ‘I am יהוה your Elohim. Walk in My laws, and guard My right-rulings, and do them.
20. ‘And set apart My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am יהוה your Elohim.’
21. “But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My laws, and My right-rulings they did not guard to do them, which, if a man does, he shall live by them. They profaned My Sabbaths, so I resolved to pour out My wrath on them to complete My displeasure against them in the wilderness.
22. “But I held back My hand and acted for My Name’s sake, not to profane it before the eyes of the gentiles, before whose eyes I had brought them out.
23. “Also, I Myself lifted My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, to scatter them among the gentiles and disperse them throughout the lands,
24. because they had not done My right-rulings, and they rejected My laws, and they profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were on their fathers’ idols.
25. “And I also gave them up to laws that were not good, and right-rulings by which they would not live.
26. “And I defiled them by their own gifts, as they passed all their first-born through the fire, so that I might stun them, so that they know that I am יהוה.” ’
27. “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “In this your fathers have further reviled Me, by committing trespass against Me.
28. “When I brought them into the land for which I had lifted My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, they offered their slaughterings there and provoked Me with their offerings there. And they sent up their sweet fragrance there and poured out their drink offerings there.
29. “And I said to them, ‘What is this high place to which you go?’ So its name is called High Place to this day.” ’
30. “Therefore say to the house of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “Are you defiling yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you whore after their abominations?
31. “For when you lift up your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Yisra’ĕl? As I live,” declares the Master יהוה, “I am not being inquired of by you.
32. “And what comes up in your spirit shall never be, when you say, ‘Let us be like the gentiles, like the tribes in other lands, serving wood and stone.’
33. “As I live,” declares the Master יהוה, “do not I, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, reign over you?
34. “And I shall bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
35. “And I shall bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and shall enter into judgment with you face to face there.