42. Then when I have brought you home to the land I promised with a solemn oath to give to your ancestors, you will know that I am the lord.
43. You will look back on all the ways you defiled yourselves and will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done.
44. You will know that I am the lord, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the Sovereign lord, have spoken!”
45. Then this message came to me from the lord:
46. “Son of man, turn and face the south and speak out against it; prophesy against the brushlands of the Negev.
47. Tell the southern wilderness, ‘This is what the Sovereign lord says: Hear the word of the lord! I will set you on fire, and every tree, both green and dry, will be burned. The terrible flames will not be quenched and will scorch everything from south to north.
48. And everyone in the world will see that I, the lord, have set this fire. It will not be put out.’”
49. Then I said, “O Sovereign lord, they are saying of me, ‘He only talks in riddles!’”