Ezekiel 20:22-24

20:22 But I refrained from doing so, ¹  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 ²  to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. ³  20:24 I did this ⁴  because they did not observe my regulations, they rejected my statutes, they desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on ⁵  their fathers’ idols.

¹ tn Heb “drew my hand back.” This idiom also occurs in Lam 2:8 and Ps 74:11.

² tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

³ sn 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 Canaan.

⁴ tn The words “I did this” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons. Verses 23-24 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text. The translation divides this sentence into two for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Or “they worshiped” (NCV, TEV, CEV); Heb “their eyes were on” or “were after” (cf. v. 16).