3. “Human, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: Did you come to ask me questions? As surely as I live, I will not let you ask me questions.’
4. “Will you judge them? Will you judge them, human? Let them know the hateful things their ancestors did.
5. Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: When I chose Israel, I made a promise to the descendants of Jacob. I made myself known to them in Egypt, and I promised them, “I am the Lord your God.”
6. At that time I promised them I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had found for them, a fertile land, the best land in the world.
7. I said to them, “Each one of you must throw away the hateful idols you have seen and liked. Don’t make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
8. “ ‘But they turned against me and refused to listen to me. They did not throw away the hateful idols which they saw and liked; they did not give up the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out my anger against them while they were still in Egypt.
9. But I acted for the sake of my name so it would not be dishonored in full view of the nations where the Israelites lived. I made myself known to the Israelites with a promise to bring them out of Egypt while the nations were watching.
10. So I took them out of Egypt and brought them into the desert.
11. I gave them my rules and told them about my laws, by which people will live if they obey them.