18. For when the just man will have withdraw from his justice, and committed iniquities, he shall die by these.
19. And when the impious man will have withdrawn from his impiety, and have done judgment and justice, he shall live by these.
20. And yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' But I shall judge each one of you according to his own ways, O house of Israel."
21. And it happened that, in the twelfth year of our transmigration, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, one who had fled from Jerusalem arrived saying, "The city has been laid waste."
22. But the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the one who had fled arrived. And he opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning. And since my mouth had been opened, I was no longer silent.
23. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24. "Son of man, as for those who live in these ruinous ways on the soil of Israel, when speaking, they say: 'Abraham was one man, and he possessed the land as an inheritance. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.'
25. Therefore, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: You who eat even the blood, and who lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and who shed blood: will you possess the land as an inheritance?
26. You stood by your swords, you committed abominations, and each one has defiled his neighbor's wife. And will you possess the land as an inheritance?
27. You shall say these things to them: So says the Lord God: As I live, those who live in ruinous ways will fall by the sword. And whoever is in the field will be delivered over to wild beasts to be devoured. But those who are in fortresses and in caves will die of the pestilence.
28. And I will make the land into a wilderness and a desert. And its arrogant strength will fail. And the mountains of Israel will be desolate; for there will be no one who crosses through them.