God suffers the wicked to be deceived in punishment of their wickedness. The evils that shall come upon them for their sins: for which they shall not be delivered by the prayers of Noe, Daniel, and Job. But a remnant shall be preserved.

¹ And men among the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat down before me.

² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

³ “Son of man, these men have placed their uncleanness in their hearts, and they have stationed the scandal of their iniquities before their face. So why should I respond when they inquire of me?¹

1. 14:3Uncleanness: That is, their filthy idols, upon which they have set their hearts: and which are a stumblingblock to their souls.(Challoner)

⁴ Because of this, speak to them, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: The man, the man of the house of Israel, who places his uncleanness in his heart, and who stations the scandal of his iniquities before his face, and who approaches a prophet, so as to inquire of me through him: I, the Lord, will respond to him in accord with the multitude of his uncleannesses,¹

1. 14:4Man, man: That is, every man, an Hebrew expression.(Challoner)

⁵ so that the house of Israel may be seized within their own heart, by which they have withdrawn from me to all their idols.

⁶ Because of this, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Be converted, and withdraw from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.

⁷ For the man, the man of the house of Israel, and the new arrival among the converts who may be in Israel, if he is alienated from me, and he sets his idols in his heart, and he stations the scandal of his iniquity before his face, and he approaches the prophet, so that he may inquire of me through him: I, the Lord, will respond to him through myself.

⁸ And I will set my face against that man, and I will make him an example and a proverb. And I will perish him from the midst of my people. And you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹ And when a prophet has gone astray and has spoken a word: I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet. And I will extend my hand over him, and I will wipe him away from the midst of my people, Israel.¹²

1. 14:9The prophet shall err, etc: He speaks of false prophets, answering out of their own heads and according to their own corrupt inclinations.(Challoner)
2. 14:9I have deceived that prophet: God Almighty deceives false prophets, partly by withdrawing his light from them; and abandoning them to their own corrupt inclinations, which push them on to prophesy such things as are agreeable to those who consult them: and partly by disappointing them, and causing all thing to happen contrary to what they have said.(Challoner)

¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity. In accord with the iniquity of the one who inquires, so shall the iniquity of the prophet be.

¹¹ So may the house of Israel no longer go astray from me, nor be polluted by all their transgressions. Instead, may they be my people, and may I be their God, says the Lord of hosts.”

¹² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

¹³ “Son of man, when a land will have sinned against me, so that it transgresses grievously, I will extend my hand over it, and I will crush the staff of its bread. And I will send a famine upon it, and I will destroy from it both man and beast.

¹⁴ And if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver their own souls by their justice, says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁵ And if I also lead in very harmful beasts upon the land, so that I devastate it, and it becomes impassable, so that no one may cross through it because of the beasts,

¹⁶ if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they will deliver neither sons, nor daughters. But only they themselves will be delivered, for the land shall be desolated.

¹⁷ Or if I lead in the sword upon that land, and if I say to the sword, ‘Pass through the land,’ and so I destroy from it both man and beast,

¹⁸ and if these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they will deliver neither sons, nor daughters, but only they themselves will be delivered.

¹⁹ Then, if I also send the pestilence upon that land, and I pour out my indignation upon it with blood, so that I take away from it both man and beast,

²⁰ and if Noah, and Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they will deliver neither son, nor daughter, but they will deliver only their own souls by their justice.

²¹ For thus says the Lord God: Even though I will send upon Jerusalem my four most grievous judgments, sword and famine and harmful beasts and pestilence, so that I destroy from it both man and beast,

²² yet still there shall be left within it some who will be saved, who shall lead away their own sons and daughters. Behold, they will enter to you, and you will see their way and their accomplishments. And you shall be consoled concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, concerning all the things that I have brought to bear upon it.

²³ And they shall console you, when you see their ways and their accomplishments. And you shall know that I have not acted to no purpose in all that I have done within it, says the Lord God.”