I will not allow them to consult me
1 ① Some of the elders of Israel came and sat in front of me. 2Then the word of Yahweh came to me, 3“Son of man, these men are keeping in their heart and remain attached to what makes them sin. Am I to allow them to consult me? 4Speak to them on my behalf: To every Israelite who goes to a prophet while he keeps filthy idols in his heart and is attached to what makes him sin, I, Yahweh, will give the answer his many idols deserve.
5For I want to take hold of Israel’s heart, the heart of all those who have strayed from me because of their filthy idols.
6So then say to the people of Israel: Thus says Yahweh: come back, turn away from your filthy idols; turn your face away from all your abominations. 7If a man of the people of Israel or a guest staying in Israel strays away from following me and goes to a prophet to consult me while he keeps idols in his heart and remains attached to what makes him sin, I, Yahweh, will answer him myself. 8I will turn my face against this man, I will make of him a proverbial example, I will strike him from the midst of my people and you will know that I am Yahweh.
9If the prophet lets himself be seduced and gives an answer, it will be I, Yahweh, who will have let him be seduced. I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.
10They will be responsible for their sin. The prophet will be as guilty as the one who consulted him, 11that the people of Israel may no longer stray from me. Instead of defiling themselves with all their transgressions, they will be for me a people and I will be their God – word of Yahweh.”
12The word of Yahweh came to me in these terms, 13“Son of man, when a nation sins against me by being unfaithful, I will stretch out my hand against it, deprive it of bread, and famine will destroy people and animals. 14But if there were found in the land these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, they would save their lives because of their righteousness – word of Yahweh.
15If I also let wild beasts roam the land to deprive it of children so that it becomes a desolation without a passerby because of the beasts, 16if these three men were in the land, as I live, word of Yahweh, they would not save their sons or daughters but only they themselves would be spared while the land would be made desolate.
17The same would happen if I brought the sword against this land and ordered the sword to go through the land destroying people and animals. 18If these three men were in the land, as I live, word of Yahweh, they would not save sons and daughters but they themselves would be spared. 19Or if I sent pestilence to the land and poured out my fury against it in bloodshed in order to destroy people and animals, 20if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land, as I live, word of Yahweh, they would not save sons or daughters, but their own lives would be spared because of their righteousness.”
21Now this is what Yahweh says, “Although I have sent my four great punishments, sword, famine, wild beasts and plague against Jerusalem to destroy people and animals, 22there are survivors, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come to you here, and when you see their way of life and their deeds, you will no longer be shocked at the disaster I brought on Jerusalem and at everything that happened to her. 23They will set your mind at rest when you see their conduct and you will realize that not in vain was all that I did in the city – word of Yahweh.”
- Ezk 14,1 Am I to allow them to consult me? Here, we have a warning for those who come to consult the Lord through the prophet in order to solve their most pressing concerns: Must I marry this woman? How will I be cured of my illness? Yahweh does not want to answer those who are not willing to obey him; rather, he will punish them for their wickedness: this will be God's answer. If the prophet lets himself be seduced (v. 9). If, for gain, the prophet agrees to answer questions which have nothing to do with his religious mission, Yahweh will punish the one consulting as well as the prophet. This implies the responsibility of people who let themselves be deceived by false prophets. People prefer to go to false prophets, because they know that they will not force them to see clearly the faults in their lives. In the end, they will all be lost.
