Ezekiel 20:1-8

1On the tenth day of the fifth month some of Israel's leaders came to me. That was in the seventh year that we had been prisoners in Babylon. The leaders sat in front of me. They wanted me to ask for a message from the Lord.

2Then the Lord gave this message to me:

3‘Son of man, speak to the leaders of Israel. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You say that you want a message from me. I promise you this, as surely as I live: I will not allow you to come to me like that.”

4Son of man, you must warn them. Are you ready to do that? Make them remember all the disgusting things that their ancestors did.

5Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: On the day that I chose Israel's people to belong to me, I made a promise to all Jacob's descendants. In the land of Egypt, I showed them who I am. I promised them, ‘I am the Lord your God.’

6On that day, I promised them that I would bring them out of Egypt. I promised to take them to a land that I had chosen for them. That land would give them plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone. It was more beautiful than any other land.

7I said to them, ‘You must each destroy the disgusting idols that you worship. Those are the idols of Egypt and they cause you to be unclean. Remember that I am the Lord your God.’

8But your ancestors did not obey me. They refused to listen to me. None of them destroyed their disgusting idols. They continued to worship the idols of Egypt. So I decided to show them that I was very angry. I said that I would punish them there in Egypt.