Ezekiel 20:33-38

20:33 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm, ¹  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 ²  the shepherd’s staff, ³  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 ⁴  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.

¹ sn This phrase occurs frequently in Deuteronomy (Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8).

² tn This is the same Hebrew verb used to describe the passing of the children through the fire.

³ sn 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.

³ tn See the note at 2:3.