Ezekiel 20:5-32 and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord, from the day I chose the house of Israel; and was made known to the seed of the house of Jacob; and acknowledged by them in the land of Egypt; when I took hold of them with my hand, saying, I the Lord am your God,;

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ⁵ and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord, from the day I chose the house of Israel; and was made known to the seed of the house of Jacob; and acknowledged by them in the land of Egypt; when I took hold of them with my hand, saying, I the Lord am your God,; ⁶ on the very day when I took hold of them with my hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land which I had prepared for them; a land flowing with milk and honey; it is the honeycomb of the whole earth; ⁷ though I said to them let every one put away the abominations of his eyes and with the devices of Egypt be not polluted, I the Lord am your God; ⁸ yet they apostatized from me and would not hearken to me. They did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, nor did they utterly forsake the devices of Egypt; therefore I spoke of pouring out my wrath on them; of spending mine indignation on them in the midst of Egypt: ⁹ but that my name might not be altogether profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they were, I did in their sight [those miracles] by which I was made known to them, in order to bring them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I led them into the wilderness; and gave them my statutes ¹¹ and made known to them my rules of rectitude, which if a man practise he shall live thereby; ¹² I gave them also my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them; that they might know that I the Lord am their sanctifier. ¹³ And I said to the house of Israel in the wilderness, "Walk in my statutes, "but they walked not. They rejected my rules of rectitude, which if a man practise he shall live by them; and they profaned my sabbaths exceedingly: whereupon I spoke of pouring out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to destroy them utterly: ¹⁴ But I acted so that my name should not be altogether profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose eyes I had brought them out: ¹⁵ and I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness thus far; that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, [a land flowing with milk and honey: it is the honey comb of the whole earth] ¹⁶ because they had rejected my rules of rectitude, and had not walked in my statutes; but profaned my sabbaths, and had gone after the desires of their own heart. ¹⁷ But mine eye had compassion on them so as not to blot them out entirely; so I did not bring them to utter destruction in the wilderness. ¹⁸ Then I said to their children in the wilderness, walk not ye in the customs of your fathers, nor observe their rules of conduct; have no communication with their devices and be not polluted. ¹⁹ I the Lord am your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my rules of rectitude and practise them; ²⁰ and hallow my sabbaths and let them be a sign between me and you, that you acknowledge that I the Lord am your God. ²¹ But even these their children rebelled against me. In my statutes they did not walk, nor did they keep my rules of rectitude to practise them, which if a man do he shall live by them; and they profaned my sabbaths; therefore I spoke of pouring out my wrath upon them in the wilderness; of accomplishing mine indignation upon them. ²² But I acted so that my name should not be utterly profaned in the sight of the nations. As I had brought them out before their eyes, ²³ I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries. ²⁴ Because they did not practise my rules of rectitude, but rejected my statutes and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after the desires of their fathers; ²⁵ therefore I gave them statutes not morally good, and rules of conduct in which they could not entitle themselves to life by them, ²⁶ that I might by their own doctrinal notions pollute them, when I passed through all their first born males in order to remove them out of sight. ²⁷ Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, thus far your fathers provoked me to wrath, by their transgressions which they committed against me. ²⁸ And when I brought them into the land, which I lifted up my hand to give them; they beheld every high hill and every shady grove, and there they sacrificed to their gods; and there set in order the sweet smelling savour; and there poured out their libations. ²⁹ And when I said to them, What is this Abama, that you go thither, they called its name Abama. which it retaineth to this day. ³⁰ Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord if you are polluted with the iniquities of your fathers and you go a whoring after their abominations ³¹ even with the first fruits of your gifts; with those dedications? with which you are polluted by all your desires even to this day, shall I return you an answer, house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord, I will not answer you. ³² And though this should come into your mind it shall not be as you say, "We will be like the nations and like the tribes of the earth in worshipping stocks and stones."