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Ezek.14:1–3. And men from the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, these men have set their thoughts in their hearts, and have set the torments of their iniquities before their faces: if they answer, I will answer them. Aquila translated this more clearly: “these men have lifted up their idols in their hearts and laid the temptation of their iniquity before their faces,” that is, they are carrying out their plans in a bad and shameless manner, neglecting the punishment that threatens the unrighteous, and have come to you with the intention of questioning you and with the hope that they will be rewarded with an answer. Ezek.14:4–5. For this reason, speak to them, and say to them: This says Adonai the Lord: A man is of the house of Israel, whosoever puts his thoughts in his heart, and commits the torment of his unrighteousness before his face, and comes to the Prophet, I the Lord tell him about these things, and by them his thoughts are supported. For let the house of Israel be led astray by their hearts being far from Me in their thoughts. Since those who serve wickedness equally used both true and false prophets in their work, and questioned them, of course, not with the goal of fulfilling God’s commands, but with the intention of knowing whether the prophecies agreed with their thoughts, the God of all speaks therefore through the Prophet: every person from the house of Israel who resists the divine teachings, obeys only his own thoughts, neglects the punishment that threatens lawless if he goes to the false prophet, wanting to fulfill his desires and testing whether the predictions will not agree with his own thoughts. - “I answer him.” And as he is driven by wrong thoughts, I will allow the false prophet to confirm his thoughts, because he is worthy of destruction and destruction. Therefore, says God, let the house of Israel be turned away according to their hearts, having removed their thoughts from Me. since they have placed themselves far from My care for them and delight in the deception of false prophets, I will allow them to reap the fruits of their labors. This, as one can find, was fulfilled with Achaab. For the false prophet Zedekiah, having made himself horns of iron, said to Achaab: “With these you will butcher Syria” (2 Chron. 18:10). Since Jehoshaphat did not accept what the false prophets said, but sought out the Prophet of God, he called Micaiah, but he prophesied the opposite of Zedekiah and did not convince Achaab, because he did not intend to do what God foretold, he asked the Prophet, but wanted to fulfill his intention in any way. Why did the false prophets, by God's permission, tell him false things, and Achaab, believing them, set out on a campaign and was punished for wickedness. Ezek.14:6. For this reason say unto the house of Israel: This saith the Lord Adonai: Turn ye, and turn away from your undertakings. The prophet offers advice that will bring salvation and reveals future benefits from it. Ezek.14:7. For a man will be away from the house of Israel, and from the strangers who have come to the house of Israel, if he departs from Me, he will put his thoughts on his heart, and will bring the torment of his unrighteousness before his face, and will come to the Prophet to ask him, “I am the Lord who will answer him, in whom he is held.” Again he repeated more clearly what was said before, that is, that anyone who has made himself alien to My care for him is driven by an evil thought, and although he knows what punishment threatens the evil, he neglects it. If he comes to any false prophet, as if with the intention of learning from Me what he should do, I myself, says God, will give him an answer and allow the called prophet to answer him according to his thoughts. Then God threatens with a worthy punishment. Ezek.14:8. And I will set my face against that man, and will cause him to be destroyed and consumed, and will cast him out from among my people, and let him know that I am the Lord. And showing that this does not say about divine prophets, but about those who have only the name of a prophet, alien to the work itself, he added: Ezek.14:9–10. And if a prophet is deceived, he speaks the word, “The Lord has deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand, and I will consume him from among the people of Israel.” And they will accept their lies But it is not characteristic of the Righteous Judge to seduce the prophet and punish the seduced. Therefore, God is not talking about the actual deception of the prophet, but about allowing him to be deceived, that is, although I can immediately expose his lies, I hold back, am long-suffering and allow him to fall into deception, because he does this of his own will, and not out of necessity. That’s why he threatens with equal punishment both those who question poorly and those who answer badly, for he says: according to the unrighteousness of the one who inquires: and through unrighteousness the same will happen to the prophet, Ezek.14:11. For let no one deceive the house of Israel from Me, and let no one be defiled in all their sins, and let Me be a people, and I will be their God, says the Lord Adonai, that is, I will not impose this punishment on them in vain, but by their destruction I will show benefit to My people and deliver them from wickedness, for I want this people to be My people, and I want to be their God, taking every care for them. Ezek.14:12. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, if the earth sins, I will feed on sin, and I will stretch out My hand on it, and wipe off the grain, and I will cause hunger on it, and I will take away men and animals from it. Ezek.14:14. And if these three men be among her, Noah and Job and Daniel, they will be saved in their righteousness, says the Lord Adonai. If I intend, says God, to punish a sinful people and give them over to hunger, and those punished do not want to resort to repentance, then I will not show any leniency, even if Noah, Job and Daniel were found among them, but they themselves will reap the fruits of their righteousness and gain salvation, and those who have sinned will not be delivered from the imposed punishment. I mentioned these men because what happened in their times was very similar to what was said now. Noah, who lived in a wicked generation, was unable to save those who did not want to resort to repentance from the destruction of the flood. And also Daniel, who lived during the captivity, did not free others due to their great wickedness from the disasters that befell them, but he himself, although he was a captive, prevailed over his enemies and had those who enslaved him under his power. And Job’s children did not take advantage of their father’s righteousness, but he alone turned out to be the winner of the enemy’s malice. God repeats the same thought in many other expressions, saying: if I bring death to that land, subject it to the raid of beasts, the invasion of enemies, and these three men are found among them, then they will not be able to save their sons or daughters, but they themselves will only gain salvation. And from this it is clear that those who do not resort to repentance will not receive any benefit from the righteous. For salvation follows repentance, and the witness of this is the Divine Scripture, which teaches this everywhere. So the Ninevites, having not Noah, not Job, not Daniel, but only Jonah, who did not pray for them, but wanted his word to be justified, found salvation through repentance. Therefore, the prophetic word teaches that those who live in lawlessness, if they do not want to resort to repentance, but boast only of living with the righteous, will have no excuse. Moreover, the God of all is pleased to show that He did for Israel what He did not do for other people, for He says: Ezek.14:21–22. This is what the Lord Adonai says: “My fierce and four vengeances I will bring upon Jerusalem, sword, and famine, and fierce beasts, and death, which men and beasts shall take from it.” And the salvation left in him from him, these sons and daughters will bring forth: snares will come out to you, and you will see their ways “Death” he calls sudden death, “sword” – beating, “hunger”, as is obvious, – poverty, “fierce beasts” – cruel enslavers, and “fierce revenge” – severe and bitter torment. Inflicting, says God, these punishments on Israel, I leave sons and daughters from among them to be saved, so that everyone will know their great wickedness and evil undertakings, and understand the justice of the punishment, and you, their fellow tribesmen, seeing their wickedness, do not accuse Me of the cruelty of the punishment. And expressing this, God added: and repent of the evil ones who brought them to Jerusalem, all the evil ones who brought them to Jerusalem Ezek.14:23. and they will comfort you: until then you will see their ways and their plans, and you will understand that I did not create all things in vain, even as I have created them, says the Lord Adonai. For this, says God, I will not give over everyone to final destruction, but I will leave those who are saved, so that through them everyone will know the justice of the punishment imposed on them.