1. It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me.
2. Then the Lord spoke to me.
3. “Mortal man,” he said, “speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: you have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.
4. “Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did.
5. Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God.
6. It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all.
7. I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God.
8. But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt.
9. But I did not, since that would have brought dishonour to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt.
10. “And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert.
11. I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them.
12. I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy.
13. But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and destroy them.
14. But I did not, since that would have brought dishonour to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt.
15. So I made a promise in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all.
16. I made the promise because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath — they preferred to worship their idols.