7. Or anyone of the house of Israel or any immigrant in Israel who becomes estranged from me by deciding on their own to set up their idols and puts the cause of their downfall right in front of them, but then comes to the prophet to ask me something through him, I, the Lord, will require an answer.
8. I will confront that one. I will set them up as a sign and an object lesson, and I will cut them off from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9. As for the prophet who was seduced into speaking a word, even though it was I, the Lord, who seduced that prophet, I will use my power against him and cut him off completely from my people Israel.
10. The prophet and the inquirer alike will bear their guilt,
11. so that the house of Israel won’t stray away from me again or make themselves impure with any of their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God. This is what the Lord God says!
12. The Lord’s word came to me:
13. Human one, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, so that I use my power against it, break off its food supply, let famine run rampant, and eliminate both humans and animals.
14. If these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, lived there, their lives alone would be saved because they were righteous. This is what the Lord God says.
15. Or suppose I allow wild animals to roam through the land, and it becomes so wild that no one can live there or even travel through it on account of the wild animals.
16. If these three men lived there, as surely as I live, proclaims the Lord God, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued, but the land would become a ruin.
17. Or suppose I bring a sword against that land and command the sword to pass through and eliminate both humans and animals.
18. If these three men lived there, as surely as I live, proclaims the Lord God, they wouldn’t be able to rescue even their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued.