21. And it came to be in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, that one who had escaped from Yerushalayim came to me and said, “The city has been smitten!”
22. And the hand of יהוה came upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth, before he came to me in the morning. And my mouth was opened. And I was no longer silent.
23. Then the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
24. “Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Yisra’ĕl are saying, ‘Aḇraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many, let the land be given to us as a possession.’
25. “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “You eat meat with blood, and you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?
26. “You depend on your sword, and you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbour’s wife. Should you then possess the land?” ’
27. “Say this to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “As I live, those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I shall give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence.
28. “And I shall make the land a desert and a waste, the arrogance of her strength shall cease, and the mountains of Yisra’ĕl shall be a waste, with none passing through.
29. “And they shall know that I am יהוה, when I have made the land a desert and a waste, because of all their abominations which they have done.” ’