Then the word of the Lord came unto me After the messenger had delivered his message, and he had received it, and conversed with him about it: saying: as follows:
21
In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city's fallen."
22
The evening before the survivor arrived, the hand of God had been on me and restored my speech. By the time he arrived in the morning I was able to speak. I could talk again.
24
"Son of man, those who are living in the ruins back in Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man and he owned the whole country. But there are lots of us. Our ownership is even more certain.'
25
"So tell them, 'God the Master says, You eat flesh that contains blood, you worship no-god idols, you murder at will - and you expect to own this land?
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.