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Text -- Ezekiel 20:17-49 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
20:17 Yet I had pity on them and did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of them in the wilderness .
20:18 “‘But I said to their children in the wilderness , “Do not follow the practices of your fathers ; do not observe their regulations , nor defile yourselves with their idols .
20:19 I am the Lord your God ; follow my statutes , observe my regulations , and carry them out .
20:20 Treat my Sabbaths as holy and they will be a reminder of our relationship, and then you will know that I am the Lord your God .”
20:21 “‘But the children rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes , did not observe my regulations by carrying them out (the one who obeys them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths . I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness .
20:22 But I refrained from doing so, and acted instead for the sake of my reputation , so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out .
20:23 I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands .
20:24 I did this because they did not observe my regulations , they rejected my statutes , they desecrated my Sabbaths , and their eyes were fixed on their fathers ’ idols .
20:25 I also gave them decrees which were not good and regulations by which they could not live .
20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire– so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord .’
20:27 “Therefore , speak to the house of Israel , son of man , and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says : In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.
20:28 I brought them to the land which I swore to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree , they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger . They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings .
20:29 So I said to them, What is this high place you go to ?’” (So it is called “High Place ” to this day .)
20:30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel , ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says : Will you defile yourselves like your fathers and engage in prostitution with detestable idols ?
20:31 When you present your sacrifices – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day . Will I allow you to seek me, O house of Israel ? As surely as I live , declares the sovereign Lord , I will not allow you to seek me!
20:32 “‘What you plan will never happen . You say , “We will be like the nations , like the clans of the lands , who serve gods of wood and stone .”
20:33 As surely as I live , declares the sovereign Lord , with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm , and with an outpouring of rage , I will be king over you.
20:34 I will bring you out from the nations , and will gather you from the lands where you are scattered , with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm and with an outpouring of rage !
20:35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations , and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face .
20:36 Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt , so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the sovereign Lord .
20:37 I will make you pass under the shepherd’s staff , and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant .
20:38 I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing , but they will not come to the land of Israel . Then you will know that I am the Lord .
20:39 “‘As for you , O house of Israel , this is what the sovereign Lord says : Each of you go and serve your idols , if you will not listen to me. But my holy name will not be profaned again by your sacrifices and your idols .
20:40 For there on my holy mountain , the high mountain of Israel , declares the sovereign Lord , all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them in the land . I will accept them there , and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts , with all your holy things .
20:41 When I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the lands where you are scattered , I will accept you along with your soothing aroma . I will display my holiness among you in the sight of the nations .
20:42 Then you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the land of Israel , to the land I swore to give to your fathers .
20:43 And there you will remember your conduct and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves. You will despise yourselves because of all the evil deeds you have done .
20:44 Then you will know that I am the Lord , when I deal with you for the sake of my reputation and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds , O house of Israel , declares the sovereign Lord .’”
Prophecy Against the South
20:45 The word of the Lord came to me:
20:46 “Son of man , turn toward the south , and speak out against the south . Prophesy against the open scrub land of the Negev ,
20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev , ‘Hear the word of the Lord : This is what the sovereign Lord says : Look here, I am about to start a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished , and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.
20:48 And everyone will see that I , the Lord , have burned it; it will not be extinguished .’”
20:49 Then I said , “O sovereign Lord ! They are saying of me, ‘Does he not simply speak in eloquent figures of speech ?’”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
LEVITICUS, 2 |
GOD, 2 |
Idolatry |
God |
Sabbath |
Bamah |
Israel |
SOUTH |
PRIMOGENITURE |
UNQUENCHABLE FIRE |
Afflictions and Adversities |
PLEAD |
PARABLE |
Molech |
Blasphemy |
FIRE |
Offerings |
Example |
Repentance |
Character |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Eze 20:17; Eze 20:18; Eze 20:18; Eze 20:20; Eze 20:20; Eze 20:21; Eze 20:21; Eze 20:21; Eze 20:22; Eze 20:23; Eze 20:23; Eze 20:24; Eze 20:24; Eze 20:25; Eze 20:25; Eze 20:25; Eze 20:26; Eze 20:26; Eze 20:26; Eze 20:28; Eze 20:29; Eze 20:30; Eze 20:31; Eze 20:31; Eze 20:31; Eze 20:32; Eze 20:32; Eze 20:32; Eze 20:32; Eze 20:33; Eze 20:37; Eze 20:37; Eze 20:38; Eze 20:39; Eze 20:39; Eze 20:39; Eze 20:39; Eze 20:40; Eze 20:42; Eze 20:43; Eze 20:43; Eze 20:45; Eze 20:46; Eze 20:46; Eze 20:46; Eze 20:46; Eze 20:47; Eze 20:47; Eze 20:48
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NET Notes: Eze 20:23 Though the Pentateuch does not seem to know of this episode, Ps 106:26-27 may speak of God’s oath to exile the people before they had entered Ca...
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NET Notes: Eze 20:24 Or “they worshiped” (NCV, TEV, CEV); Heb “their eyes were on” or “were after” (cf. v. 16).
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NET Notes: Eze 20:25 The Hebrew term חֻקּוֹת (khuqot; translated “statutes” elsewhere in this chapter) is normally fe...
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NET Notes: Eze 20:26 God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. ...
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NET Notes: Eze 20:33 This phrase occurs frequently in Deuteronomy (Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8).
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NET Notes: Eze 20:37 The metaphor may be based in Lev 27:32 (see also Jer 33:13; Matt 25:32-33). A shepherd would count his sheep as they passed beneath his staff.
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NET Notes: Eze 20:45 Beginning with 20:45, the verse numbers through 21:32 in the English Bible differ by five from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 20:45 ...
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NET Notes: Eze 20:46 The Hebrew term can also mean “forest,” but a meaning of uncultivated wasteland fits the Negev region far better. See M. Greenberg, Ezekie...
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